Abstract
SMALL amounts of transuranic nuclides are discharged routinely into the north-eastern Irish Sea from the nuclear fuel element reprocessing plant at Windscale, Cumbria. Regular monitoring of the marine environment, as part of the established control procedure is made by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food1,2, primarily to ensure the radiological safety of the discharges in public health terms. Data on the partitioning of plutonium and americium between seawater, suspended material and sediment have already been published2,3 and the purpose of this communication is to present a preliminary report of these radionuclides in the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). This is a demersal fish of commercial importance in the area and the critical material for discharges of transuranic nuclides. There are few published data on the concentrations of plutonium in marine fish4 and no data for americium have been reported.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mitchell, N. T., Technical Rep., FRL 10, 40 (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London, 1975).
Hetherington, J. A., Jefferies, D. F., Mitchell, N. T., Pentreath, R. J., and Woodhead, D. S., Transuranium Nuclides in the Environment, IAEA-SM 199, 139–154 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1976).
Hetherington, J. A., in Radioisotopes in the Aquatic Environment; Models and Mechanisms (Ann Arbor, in the press).
Cherry, R. D., and Shannon, L. V., Atomic Energy Rev., 12, 3–45 (1974).
Wong, K. M., Analyt. chim. Acta, 56, 355–364 (1971).
Pentreath, R. J., and Jefferies, D. F., J. mar. Biol. Ass. U. K., 51, 963–976 (1971).
International Commission on Radiological Protection Publication No. 9 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1966).
Preston, A., in Environmental Aspects of Nuclear Power Stations, IAEA–SM, 146, 147–157 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1971).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
PENTREATH, R., LOVETT, M. Occurrence of plutonium and americium in plaice from the north–eastern Irish Sea. Nature 262, 814–816 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/262814a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/262814a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Further 237Pu experiments with the plaice Pleuronectes platessa: Subcellular distribution of plutonium in the liver
Marine Biology (1981)
-
Transuranic nuclides in plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) from the North-Eastern Irish Sea
Marine Biology (1978)
-
The movement of plutonium, americium, and curium through the food chain
Naturwissenschaften (1978)
-
237Pu experiments with the plaice Pleuronectes platessa
Marine Biology (1978)
-
Biophysical aspects of Am-241 and Pu-241 in the environment
Radiation and Environmental Biophysics (1978)