Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:00:14.222Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The disposal of radioactive wastes into the marine environment: the presence of hot particles containing Pu and Am in the source term

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

E. I. Hamilton
E. I. Hamilton*
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, Devon
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Radioactive particulate matter (identified as hot particles) is present in the effluent discharged by the British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) uranium reprocessing plant at Sellafield, Cumbria, UK. There is very little information on the abundance or chemical and physical forms of solid matter in the effluent; even less is known of the significance of particulate debris in relation to the uptake of radionuclides for non-occupationally exposed people as a result of transfer along marine foodchains. Some observations on the occurrence and abundance of hot particles in the vicinity of Sellafield are reported, with special reference to those that contain transuranic radionuclides (Pu,Am,Cm). Some of the uncertainties are discussed in an evaluation of the significance of hot particles, albeit aggregates of colloids for the smallest particles, and exposure to man from ionizing radiation. There is no evidence that hot particles derived from BNFL and subsequently dispersed into the marine environment represent a hazard to man. However, further studies are required in order to determine whether or not the pathways followed by the particles are significant, or different to those of other radionuclides through which the radiation exposure of man within this region of Cumbria is assessed.

Keywords

radioactive wastemarine environmentSellafieldCumbriaIrish Sea
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 49 , Issue 351 , April 1985 , pp. 177 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atherton, R. S. (1979) British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., Health and Safety Directorate. Annual Report on Radioactive Discharges and Monitoring of the Environment, 1978, p. 11. Risley, Warrington, UK.Google Scholar
Atherton, R. S. (1980) Ibid. 1979, p. 11.Google Scholar
Atherton, R. S. (1981) Ibid. 1980, p. 11.Google Scholar
Bayne, B. L. (1976) Marine Mussels: Their Ecology and Physiology. Int. Bio. Prog. 10. New York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 506.Google Scholar
Cambray, R. S., and Eakins, J. D. (1982) Nature, 300, 46-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camplin, W. C., Durance, J. A., and Jefferies, D. F. (1982) A marine compartment model for collective close assessment of liquid radioactive effluents. Sizewell Inquiry Series No 4. MAFF/S17 Lowestoft, UK.Google Scholar
Clifton, R. J., Stevens, H. E., and Hamilton, E. I. (1983) Concentration and depuration of some radionuclides present in a chronically exposed population of mussels (Mytilus edulis). Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 11, 245-56.Google Scholar
Durbin, P. W. (1973) In Metabolism and biological effects of the transplutonium elements (Hodge, H. C., Stannard, J. N., and Hursh, J. B., eds.) 739–896. Springer Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
Eakins, J. D., Lally, A. E., Burton, P. J., Kilworth, D. R., and Pratley, F. A. (1982) Studies of Environmental Radioactivity in Cumbria. Pt 5. (AERE-R10127), HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Fews, A. P., and Henshaw, D. L. (1981) Analysis of uranium fragments found in the human lung. In Int. Conf. on Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors. Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
GESAMP Dent No. 19 (1983) An oceanographic model for the dispersion of wastes disposed of in the deep sea. IAEA, Vienna.Google Scholar
Gorham, E. (1958) Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. B, 241, 147-78.Google Scholar
Great Britain-Parliament (1960) Radioactive Substances Act 1960. HMSO, London, 28 pp.Google Scholar
Hamilton, E. I. (1979) The Chemical Elements and Man. C. C. Thomas Pub. Springfield. Illinois USA, 386-94.Google Scholar
Hamilton, E. I. (1980) Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 2, 61–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, E. I. (1981) Nature 290, 690-3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, E. I. and Clarke, K. R. (1985) Sedimentation history of the Esk estuary, Cumbfia UK: the application of radio-chronological methods. Sci. Total Environ. 35, 325-86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, E. I. and Clifton, R. J. (1980) Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 3, 267-77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, E. I. and Clifton, R. J. (1981) Int. d. Appl. Rad. Isotopes. 32, 313-24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, J. A. (1976) Radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles, 1974.Tech. Rept. FRL 11, pp. 35.Google Scholar
Hetherington, J. A. (1978) In Environmental Toxicity of Aquatic Radio nuclides: Models and Mechanisms (Miller, M. W. and Stannard, J. N., eds.) Ann Arbor Science Pub. Inc. Mich., 81106.Google Scholar
Howells, H. (1977) British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., Windscale and Calder Works, Health and Safety Department. Radioactive waste disposal and associated monitoring data 1971-1976. Google Scholar
Hunt, G. J. (1979) Radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles, 1977. Aquat. Environ. Monit. Rep., MAFF Direct. Fish. Res. Lowestoft (3), 36 pp.Google Scholar
Hunt, G. J. (1980) Ibid. 1978 (4), 37 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, G. J. (1981) Ibid. 1979 (6), 32 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, G. J. (1982) Ibid. 1982 (8), 35 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, G. J. (1983) Ibid. 1981 (9), 36 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Commission on Radiological Protection (1972) The metabolism of compounds of plutonium and other actinides. Pergamon Press, Oxford (ICRP, Pub. 19).Google Scholar
International Commission on Radiological Protection (1980) Biological effects of inhaled radionuclides (ICRP, Pub. 31).Google Scholar
International Commission on Radiological Protection (1981) Limits for intakes of radio-nuclides by workers. Part 1 (ICRP, Pub. 30 Part 1).Google Scholar
Mairs, J. H., and Nair, S. (1979) The inventories of actinide and fission product arisings in spent nuclear fuel: results from the Rice Code. Central. Elect. Gen. Board. Res. Div. Berkeley Nuclear Labs. RD/B/N4579, UK.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1967) Radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles. Tech. Rept. FRL 1, pp. 36.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1968) Ibid. 1967. Tech. Rept. FRL 2, pp. 41.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1969) Ibid. 1968. Tech. Rept. FRL 5, pp. 39.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1971a) Ibid. 1969. Tech. Rept. FRL 7, pp. 33.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1971b) Ibid. 1970. Tech. Rept. FRL 8, pp. 34.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1973) Ibid. 1971. Tech. Rept. FRL 9, pp. 35.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1975) Ibid. 1972-3. Tech. Rept. FRL 10, pp. 40.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1977a) Ibid. 1976, Part 1. The Irish Sea and its environs. Tech. Rept. FRL 13, 15 pp.Google Scholar
Mitchell, N. T. (1977b) Ibid. 1975. Tech. Rept. FRL 12, 32 pp.Google Scholar
National Radiological Protection Board and the Com-missariat a l'Energie Atomique (1979) Methodology for evaluating the radiological consequences of radioactive effluents released in normal operations. Joint report for Commission of the European Communities. CEC, Luxembourg. Doc. V/3865/79-EN, 292 pp.Google Scholar
Pentreath, R. J., Lovett, M. B., Harvey, B. R., and Ibbett, R. D. (1979) In Biological Implications of Radionuclides Released from Nuclear Industries Vol. II IAEA. SM-237/1, 22745.Google Scholar
Tamplin, A. R., and Cochran, T. B. (1974) Radiation Standards for Hot Particles. Washington DC: Natural Resources Defense Council.Google Scholar