Abstract
In an earlier modelling study, the dispersion in the N.W. European Shelf Seas of 137Cs discharged from Sellafield was simulated for the period 1964 to 1980. The present study extends this simulation up to 1988 and includes atmospheric deposition following the Chernobyl accident in April 1986. These model simulations are compared with annual observational surveys carried out in the North Sea from 1978 to 1988.
Atmospheric models have estimated a deposition in the North Sea of 1.4 PBq of 137Cs from Chernobyl (and 3.7 PBq over the N.W. European Shelf Seas). An independent estimate of 0.9 PBq is made here using the Shelf Sea model to interpolate between marine surveys carried out in successive Septembers of 1985 and 1986. Immediately prior to the Chernobyl accident, the model indicated 2.3 PBq of 137Cs in the North Sea and 8.2 PBq in the Shelf Seas. Thus, the Chernobyl deposition was of the order of half of the Sellafield material in both areas.
These Chernobyl fractions will subsequently decrease more rapidly due to their concentration towards the north-east of these sea areas. Meanwhile the concentrations due to Sellafield which peaked around 1980 in the North Sea will decline steadily at a rate determined by the flushing time of the combined Shelf Seas i.e. approximately 4.5 years. Estimations of the flushing time of the North Sea from both the model and observations indicate a value of the order of 1.5 years. These long flushing periods (relative to the ‘annual’ renewal period for many biological phenomena) may be important in maintaining the stability of various biological and chemical parameters.
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Prandle, D., Beechey, J. (1991). The Dispersion of 137Cs from Sellafield and Chernobyl in the N.W. European Shelf Seas. In: Kershaw, P.J., Woodhead, D.S. (eds) Radionuclides in the Study of Marine Processes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3686-0_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3686-0_9
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