Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T01:21:37.209Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Spatial and Temporal Impacts of 14C Releases from the Sellafield Nuclear Complex On the Irish Coastline

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Sinead M Keogh ,
Edward J McGee  and
Donal Gallagher
Edward J McGee
Affiliation:
Peter I Mitchell Department of Experimental Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
Donal Gallagher
Affiliation:
Peter I Mitchell Department of Experimental Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant is estimated to be the largest single source of global anthropogenic radiocarbon discharge. This study addresses the impact of these releases on the Irish coastal marine environment. Spatial trends in the 14C content of seaweed (Fucus spp.) were assessed by collecting and analyzing samples from well-distributed locations around the Irish coastline. Temporal trends were studied by comparing 14C concentrations in present-day samples with levels found in archive material collected at the same locations during research campaigns conducted in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The impact of 14C discharged from Sellafield was found to be most apparent in seaweeds from the northeastern Irish coast. This indicates that the pattern of residual currents and, in particular, the south to north transfer of water known to predominate in the Irish Sea, largely controls the spatial distribution of 14C releases. Maximum 14C discharge levels to the marine environment from Sellafield (between 12 and 13 TBq yr-1) were mirrored by peak concentrations found in seaweed from the mid-1990s and in present-day samples (highest recorded value of 130.4 pMC). Concentrations of 14C in seaweed from the west coast of Ireland correspond closely with values measured for seaweeds from the Atlantic coast of northwest Spain and do not appear to be significantly affected by Sellafield discharges.

Type
Part II
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 46 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 18th International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2), Conference Editors: Nancy Beavan Athfield, Rodger J Sparks , 2004 , pp. 885 - 892
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

BNFL. 1995. Annual report on radioactive discharges and monitoring of the environment 1994. Report on Discharges and Environmental Monitoring, Volume 1. British Nuclear Fuels plc., Health and Safety Directorate, Risley, UK.Google Scholar
BNFL. 2001. Discharges and monitoring of the environment in the UK; Annual Report 2001, BNFL, Risley, UK.Google Scholar
Cook, GT, Begg, FH, Naysmith, P, Scott, EM, McCartney, M. 1995. Anthropogenic 14C marine geochemistry in the vicinity of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Radiocarbon 37(2):459–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, GT, MacKenzie, AB, Naysmith, P, Anderson, R. 1998. Natural and anthropogenic 14C in the UK coastal marine environment. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 40(1):89–111.Google Scholar
DEFRA. 2002. UK Strategy for Radioactive Discharges 2001–2020. United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.Google Scholar
Gallager, D, McGee, EJ, Mitchell, PI. 2002. A radiocarbon age calculation program for windows. Radiocarbon 44(1):223–24.Google Scholar
IAEA. 1998. International Atomic Energy Agency AQCS Catalogue for Reference Materials and Intercomparison Exercises 1998/1999, Vienna, Austria. http://www.IAEA.org.Google Scholar
Isogai, K, Cook, GT, Anderson, R. 2002. Reconstructing the history of 14C discharges from Sellafield: part 1–atmospheric discharges. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 59:207–22.Google Scholar
Jefferies, DF, Steele, AK, Preston, A. 1982. Further studies on the distribution of Cs in British coastal waters–1. Irish Sea. Deep Sea Research Part A. Oceanographic Research Papers 29(6):713–38.Google Scholar
MAFF. 1996. Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, 1995. RIFE-1, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London.Google Scholar
FSA/SEPA. 2003. Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, 2002. RIFE-8, Food Standards Agency and Scottish Environment Protection Agency, London and Stirling.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, RG. 1997. The establishment of a radiocarbon dating facility at University College Dublin and its application to a study of paleoecological material from the north Mayo blanket bog and the Ceide fields [PhD dissertation]. Dublin: University College Dublin.Google Scholar
Sanchez-Cabeza, JA. 1989. Plutonium in the Irish environment [PhD dissertation]. Dublin: University College Dublin.Google Scholar
UNSCEAR. 1993. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Report to the General Assembly. New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
UNSCEAR. 2001. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Report to the General Assembly. New York: United Nations.Google Scholar