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14C AND OTHER RADIONUCLIDES IN THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE BORDER REGION OF LITHUANIA BEFORE THE START OF THE BELARUSIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT OPERATION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2022

Jonas Mažeika Open the ORCID record for Jonas Mažeika [Opens in a new window] ,
Olga Jefanova ,
Rimantas Petrošius ,
Galina Lujanienė  and
Žana Skuratovič
Jonas Mažeika*
Affiliation:
State Research Institute Nature Research Centre – Laboratory of Nuclear Geophysics and Radioecology, Vilnius, Lithuania
Olga Jefanova
Affiliation:
State Research Institute Nature Research Centre – Laboratory of Nuclear Geophysics and Radioecology, Vilnius, Lithuania
Rimantas Petrošius
Affiliation:
State Research Institute Nature Research Centre – Laboratory of Nuclear Geophysics and Radioecology, Vilnius, Lithuania
Galina Lujanienė
Affiliation:
State Research Institute Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology – Department of Environmental Research, Vilnius, Lithuania
Žana Skuratovič
Affiliation:
State Research Institute Nature Research Centre – Laboratory of Nuclear Geophysics and Radioecology, Vilnius, Lithuania
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the background activity of anthropogenic radionuclides (14C, 3H, 137Cs, and 239,240Pu), emphasizing 14C content, in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Lithuanian border region before the commissioning of a new nuclear power plant in Belarus (BelNPP). In terrestrial samples, the 14C concentration varied insignificantly—from 98.6 ± 0.7 to 102.2 ± 0.8 pMC, which is close to the 14C level in atmospheric CO2. In aquatic samples, the 14C concentration varied within wide limits from 76.9 ± 0.7 to 99.6 ± 0.6 pMC, depending on the ecological group of macrophytes. Various ecological groups of macrophytes have experienced the influence of a freshwater reservoir effect. This lowest 14C content in submerged macrophyte species, within the limits of uncertainty, was very close to the specific activity of 14C in DIC (78.6 ± 0.6 pMC) in the water of the Neris River. The background 14C values, together with the data on 3H, 137Cs and 239,240Pu obtained in this study, can be used in the future to assess the contribution of the BelNPP conventional radioactive effluents to the levels of 14C and other radionuclides in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the transboundary region of Belarus and Lithuania.

Keywords

ceasium-137 (137Cs)nuclear power plants (NPPs)plutonium-239240 (239,240Pu)radiocarbon (14C)tritium (3H)
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 64 , Issue 6: 3rd Radiocarbon in the Environment Conference Gliwice, Poland, July 5–9, 2021 , December 2022 , pp. 1309 - 1322
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 3rd Radiocarbon in the Environment Conference, Gliwice, Poland, 5–9 July 2021

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