Journal article
Frequency distribution, isotopic composition and physical characterization of plutonium-bearing particles from the Fig-Quince zone on Runit Island, Enewetak Atoll
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory1
Radioecology and Tracer Studies, Radiation Research Division, Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark2
Radiation Research Division, Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark3
Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark4
International Atomic Energy Agency5
Institute for Transuranium Elements6
Runit Island on Enewetak Atoll was very heavily impacted by the U.S. nuclear testing campaign in the northern Marshall Islands (1946–58). The primary source of contamination on Runit Island was the 1958 Quince safety test where a large quantity of device plutonium (Pu) was scattered over the area near the GZ.
A second low-yield device was detonated on the same site 10 days later, further disturbing the soil and leaving behind a very heterogeneous pattern of contamination including milligram-size particles of plutonium. A limited cleanup of the Fig-Quince zone was carried out in 1979. During this period, the effectiveness of the cleanup operations was primarily evaluated on the basis of bulk soil concentration data with little consideration given to the heterogeneity and long-term material-, biological-, and environmental-specific impacts of residual high activity (hot) particle contamination.
The aim of the present study was twofold; (i) to characterize the levels and distribution of residual contamination in the Fig-Quince zone, and (ii) to develop pertinent data on the frequency distribution, elemental and isotopic composition, and physico-chemical properties of hot particles isolated from surface soils from Fig-Quince with a view towards providing recommendations on the future management and possible cleanup of the site.
Today, Runit Island remains under an administrative quarantine.
Language: | English |
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Publisher: | Springer Netherlands |
Year: | 2009 |
Pages: | 1019-1026 |
Journal subtitle: | An International Journal Dealing With All Aspects and Applications of Nuclear Chemistry |
ISSN: | 15882780 and 02365731 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10967-009-0237-x |
Nuclear technologies Nukleare teknologier Radioecology and tracer studies Radioøkologi og sporstofstudier
239Pu 240Pu 241Am 241Pu 242Pu 244Pu AMS Chemistry Diagnostic Radiology Enewetak Atoll Gamma-spectrometry Inorganic Chemistry MCICP-MS Marshall Islands Nuclear Chemistry Nuclear Physics, Heavy Ions, Hadrons Physical Chemistry Radioactive particles Runit Island SEM-EDX SIMS SR-μ-XRF Soil particle size fractionation