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Determination of plutonium activity concentrations and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in Brown Algae (Fucus distichus) collected from Amchitka Island, Alaska

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Abstract

Plutonium-239 (239Pu) and plutonium-240 (240Pu) activity concentrations and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios are reported for Brown Algae (Fucus distichus) collected from the littoral zone of Amchitka Island (Alaska), and at a control site at Unalaska, Alaska. The average 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio observed in dried F. distichus collected from Amchitka Island was 0.227 ± 0.007 (N = 5) and compares with the expected 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio in integrated worldwide fallout deposition in the Northern Hemisphere of 0.1805 ± 0.0057. In the absence of any evidence of a local source of plutonium containing an elevated 240Pu/239Pu isotopic signature, the characteristically high 240Pu/239Pu content of F. distichus supports the view of the existence of a discernible, basin-wide non-fallout source of plutonium entering the subarctic Pacific.

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Acknowledgement

We thank the Department of Environmental Conservation, State of Alaska for funding support under Project L9537. The manuscript was prepared as a contribution to the Arctic Council’s Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) under the authority of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of International Emergency Management and Cooperation. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. Dr. Gi Hoon Hong (KORDI) provided helpful comments on the original draft manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, CA, 94550-0808, USA

    Terry Hamilton, Tom Brown, Roger Martinelli & Steven Kehl

  2. Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, 610 University Ave., Fairbanks, AK, 99709, USA

    Doug Dasher

  3. B Division, Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, CA, 94550-0808, USA

    Alfredo Marchetti

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  1. Terry Hamilton
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  2. Doug Dasher
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  3. Tom Brown
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  4. Roger Martinelli
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  5. Alfredo Marchetti
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  6. Steven Kehl
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Correspondence to Terry Hamilton.

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Hamilton, T., Dasher, D., Brown, T. et al. Determination of plutonium activity concentrations and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in Brown Algae (Fucus distichus) collected from Amchitka Island, Alaska. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 282, 477–482 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0221-5

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