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Migration Forms of Anthropogenic Radionuclides in Tunnel Waters at the Degelen Mountains, Semipalatinsk Test Site

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Abstract—

The paper discusses the forms of anthropogenic radionuclides in natural waters at radiation-contaminated territories. The data were obtained using techniques of cascade filtration and flow field flow fractionation coupled with multi-detector analysis. The size and nature of the colloid and suspended particles in the tunnel waters were determined in the range of 1 to 10 000 nm. The average hydrodynamic diagram of the colloid particles was evaluated. The distribution of anthropogenic radionuclides (137Cs, 90Sr, 239 + 240Pu, and 241Am) between the suspended matter, colloid particles of different size, and dissolved forms was estimated. The fraction of colloid forms of 239 + 240Pu in the tunnel waters of the mountain massif was typical of each object, differs from one tunnel to another, and does not show any common trends at given geochemical parameters. The migration of radionuclides outside the Degelen Mountains is controlled by the most mobile fraction: particles smaller than 3 nm.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks the staff of the Institute of the Radiation Safety and Ecology of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan for organizing the fieldwork and conducting some of the laboratory studies. The staff of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, Karlsruhe, Germany, and particularly Dr. M. Bouby are thanked for help in carrying out experiments on asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation. The author also thanks Prof. L.P. Rikhvanov and Prof. S.I. Arbuzov for valuable comments expressed when discussing results of this research.

Funding

This study was partly supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (project 0122/PTSF-14) and by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (government-financed project 5.10015.2017.5.2/DAAD).

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  1. National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, 634050, Tomsk, Russia

    A. S. Toropov

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Translated by E. Kurdyukov

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Toropov, A.S. Migration Forms of Anthropogenic Radionuclides in Tunnel Waters at the Degelen Mountains, Semipalatinsk Test Site. Geochem. Int. 58, 342–351 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702920020123

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