Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The measurement of the isotopic composition of plutonium in an Irish Sea sediment by mass spectrometry

  • Published:
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Samples from sediment cores, collected from a site close to the Sellafield outfall and dated using conventional γ- and α-spectrometry, have been analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (TIMS). This has provided information on the isotopic composition of plutonium in the liquid discharges from Sellafield; such information is not available using conventional α-spectrometry alone. There was very good agreement between the240Pu/239Pu ratios obtained by the two MS methods. More recent discharges have been characterised by a progressive decrease in the relative proportion of239Pu.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. DOE, Environmental Protection and Water Statistics. Statist. Bu., 91-1, Department of the Environment, London, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  2. A. AARKROG, S. BOELSKIFTE, H. DAHLGAARD, S. DUNIEC, L. HALLSTADIUS, E. HOLM, J. N. SMITH, Estuar. Coastal Shelf Sci., 24 (1987) 637.

    Google Scholar 

  3. P. J. KERSHAW, R. J. PENTREATH, D. S. WOODHEAD, G. J. HUNT, A review of radioactivity in the Irish Sea, Aquat. Environ. Monit. Rept., MAFF Direct Fish. Res., Lowestoft, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  4. P. J. KERSHAW, D. S. WOODHEAD, S. J. MALCOLM, D. J. ALLINGTON, M. B. LOVETT, J. Environ. Radioact., 12 (1990) 201.

    Google Scholar 

  5. K. E. SAMPSON, R. D. SCOTT, M. S. BAXTER, R. C. HUTTON, in: Radionuclides in the Study of Marine Processes, P. J. KERSHAW, D. S. WOODHEAD, (Eds). Elsevier, London, 1991, p. 177.

    Google Scholar 

  6. R. L. WALKER, R. E. EBY, C. A. PRITCHARD, J. A. CARTER, Anal. Lett., 7 (1974) 563.

    Google Scholar 

  7. A. McCORMICK, App. Radiat. Isot., 43 (1992) 271.

    Google Scholar 

  8. A. B. MacKENZIE, R. D. SCOTT, R. L. ALLAN, Y. A. BEN SHABAN, G. T. COOK, I. D. PULFORD, J. Environ. Radioact., 23 (1994) 39.

    Google Scholar 

  9. E. HOLM, A. AARKROG, S. B. ALLESTRA, H. DAHLGAARD, Earth Planet Sci. Lett, 79 (1986) 27.

    Google Scholar 

  10. A. V. YABLOKOV, V. K. KARASEV, V. M. RUMYANTSEV, M. YE KEMEL YANENKOV, P. M. RUBISOV, Facts and problems related to radioactive waste disposal in seas adjacent to the territory of the Russian Federation, Office of the President of the Russian Federation, Moscow, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), Directorate of Fisheries Research Lowestoft, NR33 OHT, Suffolk, (UK)

    P. J. Kershaw

  2. Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre (SURRC), East Kilbride, G75 0QK, Glasgow, (UK)

    K. E. Sampson & R. D. Scott

  3. Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston, RGT 4PR, Reading, Berkshire, (UK)

    W. McCarthy

Authors
  1. P. J. Kershaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K. E. Sampson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. W. McCarthy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. D. Scott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kershaw, P.J., Sampson, K.E., McCarthy, W. et al. The measurement of the isotopic composition of plutonium in an Irish Sea sediment by mass spectrometry. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Articles 198, 113–124 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02038249

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02038249

Keywords

Search

Navigation