NUKLEONIKA 2005, 50(2):61-66

PLUTONIUM AND AMERICIUM IN SEDIMENTS OF LITHUANIAN LAKES

Vidmantas Remeikis, Rasa Gvozdaite, Ruta Druteikiene, Arturas Plukis, Nikołaj Tarasiuk, Narciza Špirkauskaite

Institute of Physics, 231 Savanariu Ave., LT-02300 Vilnius, Lithuania

The assessment of contribution of the global and the Chernobyl NPP (Nuclear Power Plant) accident plutonium and americium to plutonium pollution in sediments of Lithuanian lakes is presented. Theoretical evaluation of activity ratios of ²³⁸Pu/239+240Pu and ²⁴¹Pu/^239+240Pu in the reactor of unit 4 of the Chernobyl NPP before the accident was performed by means of the ORIGEN-ARP code from the SCALE 4.4A program package.
Non-uniform distribution of radionuclides in depositions on the Lithuanian territory after nuclear weapon tests and the Chernobyl NPP accident is experimentally observed by measuring the lake sediment pollution with actinides. The activity concentration of sediments polluted with plutonium ranges from 2.0 ± 0.5 Bq/kg d.w. (dry weight) in Lake Asave.lis to 14 ± 2 Bq/kg d.w. in Lake Juodis.
The ratio of activity concentrations of plutonium isotopes ²³⁸Pu/^239+240Pu measured by a-spectrometry in the 10-cm-thick upper layer of bottom sediment varies from 0.03 in Lake Juodis to 0.3 in Lake Žuvintas.
The analysis of the ratio values shows that the deposition of the Chernobyl origin plutonium is prevailing in southern and south-western regions of Lithuania. Plutonium of nuclear weapon tests origin in sediments of lakes is observed on the whole territory of Lithuania, and it is especially distinct in central Lithuania. The americium activity due to ²⁴¹Pu decay after the Chernobyl NPP accident and global depositions in bottom sediments of Lithuanian lakes has been evaluated to be from 0.9 to 5.7 Bq/kg.

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