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İsel P, Sahin L, Hafızoğlu N, Ganioğlu E, Mülayim A. Natural and artificial radioactive pollution in sediment and soil samples of the Bosphorus, Istanbul. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023:10.1007/s11356-023-27455-7. [PMID: 37160855 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-27455-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
This study focused on the determination of natural (238U, 232Th, and 40K) and artificial (137Cs) radionuclide concentrations both in 55 sediment samples collected from various depths in the Bosphorus and 5 soil samples from the coastline of the Bosphorus, Istanbul, using gamma-ray spectrometry with an HPGe detector. The mean activity concentrations of natural 238U, 232Th, and 40K and anthropogenic 137Cs were determined to be 11.41 ± 0.21 Bq kg-1, 6.87 ± 0.16 Bq kg-1, 369.61 ± 3.41 Bq kg-1, and 6.54 ± 0.11 Bq kg-1, respectively, in the sediment samples. The average activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, 40K, and 137Cs radionuclides in the soil samples were also measured to be 11.65 ± 0.18 Bq kg-1, 9.55 ± 0.15 Bq kg-1, 369.43 ± 3.09 Bq kg-1, and 4.57 ± 0.09 Bq kg-1, respectively. Radiological contour maps based on the activity concentrations of natural and artificial radionuclides in the sediment samples for the Bosphorus, Istanbul, were created. The total annual effective doses due to soil samples were calculated to be 34.58 μSv y-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pınar İsel
- Institute of Graduate Studies in Science, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, 34452, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Latife Sahin
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, 34134, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - Nurgül Hafızoğlu
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, 34134, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ela Ganioğlu
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, 34134, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ayşegül Mülayim
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, 34134, Istanbul, Turkey
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Feng D, Yang F, Wang X, Zhou X, Liu Z, Liao H. Distribution of plutonium isotopes in soils between two nuclear test sites: Semipalatinsk and Lop Nor. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2022; 242:106792. [PMID: 34929510 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Revised: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Plutonium (Pu) has attracted attention as an environmental tracer due to its radiotoxicity and the possibility of sources linked with nuclear accidents in recent years. Plutonium isotopes (239,240Pu) were detected at trace levels in soils collected from the Xinjiang region located between the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and China's Lop Nor nuclear test site. Little is known regarding the spatial variation of 239,240Pu in soils from this region. This study reports the use of Sector Field Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) methods to distinguish between Pu isotopes derived from global fallout and nuclear weapon tests. We found that the 239,240Pu activity concentrations ranged from 0.035 to 1.338 mBq/g; the 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios were 0.157-0.223 with a weighted average of 0.180 ± 0.002, corresponding with the expected average global fallout ratio of 0.180 ± 0.014. This indicated that global fallout is the major source of Pu in the study region. The 239,240Pu inventories in these soils ranged from 23.67 to 222.7 Bq/m2, corresponding with those from other areas in China and other countries within the latitude range. Our Pu isotope data was supplemented with other published Pu data for soils collected in the vicinity of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and Lop Nor nuclear test site. Results indicate that 239,240Pu inventories and 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios in soils exhibit large variations with distance from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. High deposition and accumulation of Pu, and low 240Pu/239Pu ratios were observed in close-in fallout and downwind regions of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and China's Lop Nor nuclear test site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongxia Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China
| | - Fang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China
| | - Xihuang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China
| | - Xingxuan Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China
| | - Zhiyong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X) and Collaborative Innovation Centre of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
| | - Haiqing Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China.
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Satoh D, Nakayama H, Furuta T, Yoshihiro T, Sakamoto K. Simulation code for estimating external gamma-ray doses from a radioactive plume and contaminated ground using a local-scale atmospheric dispersion model. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0245932. [PMID: 33493217 PMCID: PMC7833150 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we developed a simulation code powered by lattice dose-response functions (hereinafter SIBYL), which helps in the quick and accurate estimation of external gamma-ray doses emitted from a radioactive plume and contaminated ground. SIBYL couples with atmospheric dispersion models and calculates gamma-ray dose distributions inside a target area based on a map of activity concentrations using pre-evaluated dose-response functions. Moreover, SIBYL considers radiation shielding due to obstructions such as buildings. To examine the reliability of SIBYL, we investigated five typical cases for steady-state and unsteady-state plume dispersions by coupling the Gaussian plume model and the local-scale high-resolution atmospheric dispersion model using large eddy simulation. The results of this coupled model were compared with those of full Monte Carlo simulations using the particle and heavy-ion transport code system (PHITS). The dose-distribution maps calculated using SIBYL differed by up to 10% from those calculated using PHITS in most target locations. The exceptions were locations far from the radioactive contamination and those behind the intricate structures of building arrays. In addition, SIBYL's computation time using 96 parallel processing elements was several tens of minutes even for the most computationally expensive tasks of this study. The computation using SIBYL was approximately 100 times faster than the same calculation using PHITS under the same computation conditions. From the results of the case studies, we concluded that SIBYL can estimate a ground-level dose-distribution map within one hour with accuracy that is comparable to that of the full Monte Carlo simulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daiki Satoh
- Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Naka-gun, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Hiromasa Nakayama
- Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Naka-gun, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Takuya Furuta
- Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Naka-gun, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Tamotsu Yoshihiro
- Technical Services, East Technical Consultant, Hewlett-Packard Japan, Ltd., Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kensaku Sakamoto
- Center for Computational Science and E-system, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Naka-gun, Ibaraki, Japan
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Pereira APMF, Rodrigues LADC, Santos EAD, Cardoso TADO, Cohen SC. Gestão de eventos QBRN e a utilização do modelo Hysplit: uma revisão integrativa de literatura. SAÚDE EM DEBATE 2019. [DOI: 10.1590/0103-1104201912221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
RESUMO O potencial risco de exposição das populações aos agentes Químicos, Biológicos, Radioativos e Nucleares (QBRN), seja por causas intencionais ou não, configura-se como questão de segurança nacional e demanda um constante aprimoramento do seu gerenciamento. Os modelos de dispersão atmosférica vêm ganhando destaque como ferramenta de apoio à gestão dos riscos aos agentes QBRN. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi identificar e avaliar estudos que utilizaram o modelo Hysplit no contexto de eventos QBRN. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão integrativa de literatura de artigos publicados entre 2014 e 2018, nas bases de dados PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science e Lilacs. A análise dos artigos selecionados permitiu verificar o potencial do uso do modelo Hysplit, enquanto modelo matemático, para compreender o transporte, a dispersão e a deposição de ameaças QBRN liberadas na atmosfera. Os dados produzidos pelas simulações geradas por esse código podem revelar quais áreas serão potencialmente impactadas em um determinado evento ou a região de origem de elementos dispersos no ar. Ademais, o Hysplit pode ser agregado como uma ferramenta de suporte às decisões perante as distintas fases da gestão de eventos QBRN.
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Mlakar P, Božnar MZ, Grašič B, Breznik B. Integrated system for population dose calculation and decision making on protection measures in case of an accident with air emissions in a nuclear power plant. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 666:786-800. [PMID: 30818203 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima remind us that nuclear power plants should continuously invest resources in improving safety and in risk management. This paper presents the methodology for developing a measuring and modelling system with a high degree of automation, which enables predicting the effects of the spreading of radionuclides from the nuclear power plant to the atmosphere. The end result is the calculated population doses in the event of an accidental release, which is an essential piece of information needed by first responders to take proper action. The key challenge addressed by this methodology is how to build a system so that its operation is maximally automated, ongoing and in real time. Moreover, in a way that "fresh", normalized results for the hypothetically most probable types of emissions are always available to operators. The principle that normalized, fresh results are always automatically available to operators is the only real assurance that they will almost surely be available in the event of an accident and panic. This way, we can avoid performing complex model calculations at the operator's request when the accident is already taking place. The methodology divides the building of the system into key modules, which are substantiated and described. The theoretical section is followed by a description of implementation on the example of the Measuring and Modelling System at the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (in Slovenia). The system has been tested in regular nuclear emergency exercises and rated excellent by IAEA inspections; it has been operating automatically, continuously and in real time for many years. The availability of automatic results is counted for the last two years. Measurements and diagnostic modelling results were available for more than 96% and forecasts were available in more than 91% of all half-hour intervals.
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Air Mass Trajectories to Estimate the “Most Likely” Areas to Be Affected by the Release of Hazardous Materials in the Atmosphere—Feasibility Study. ATMOSPHERE 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/atmos10050253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Countries continuously review and improve their Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) arrangements and capabilities to take agile and rapid actions with the intent of minimizing health, environmental and economic impacts of potential harmful releases into the atmosphere. One of the specific topics within the EP&R field is the estimation of the areas that might be affected. A proposal is presented to estimate the spatial distribution of the released material. The methodology combines the computation of air mass trajectories and the elaboration of density maps from the corresponding end-point positions. To this purpose, density maps are created in a three-way procedure; first, forward trajectories are calculated from a certain location and for a long period of time, e.g., a decade; second, the selected end-point positions are aggregated in a density field by applying the kernel density estimation method, and then the density field is visualized. The final product reports the areas with the longest residence time of air masses, and hence, the areas “most likely” to be affected and where the deposit may be substantial. The usefulness of this method is evaluated taking as reference a ten-year period (2007–2016) and against two different radioactive release scenarios, such as the Chernobyl accident and the Algeciras release. While far from being fully comprehensive, as only meteorological data are used, the performance of this method is reasonably efficient, and hence, it is a desirable alternative to estimating those areas potentially affected by a substantial deposit following the releases of a harmful material in the atmosphere.
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Pirouzmand A, Kowsar Z, Dehghani P. Atmospheric dispersion assessment of radioactive materials during severe accident conditions for Bushehr nuclear power plant using HYSPLIT code. PROGRESS IN NUCLEAR ENERGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pnucene.2018.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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Zhang X, Efthimiou G, Wang Y, Huang M. Comparisons between a new point kernel-based scheme and the infinite plane source assumption method for radiation calculation of deposited airborne radionuclides from nuclear power plants. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2018; 184-185:32-45. [PMID: 29334619 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2017] [Revised: 12/04/2017] [Accepted: 01/04/2018] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Radiation from the deposited radionuclides is indispensable information for environmental impact assessment of nuclear power plants and emergency management during nuclear accidents. Ground shine estimation is related to multiple physical processes, including atmospheric dispersion, deposition, soil and air radiation shielding. It still remains unclear that whether the normally adopted "infinite plane" source assumption for the ground shine calculation is accurate enough, especially for the area with highly heterogeneous deposition distribution near the release point. In this study, a new ground shine calculation scheme, which accounts for both the spatial deposition distribution and the properties of air and soil layers, is developed based on point kernel method. Two sets of "detector-centered" grids are proposed and optimized for both the deposition and radiation calculations to better simulate the results measured by the detectors, which will be beneficial for the applications such as source term estimation. The evaluation against the available data of Monte Carlo methods in the literature indicates that the errors of the new scheme are within 5% for the key radionuclides in nuclear accidents. The comparisons between the new scheme and "infinite plane" assumption indicate that the assumption is tenable (relative errors within 20%) for the area located 1 km away from the release source. Within 1 km range, the assumption mainly causes errors for wet deposition and the errors are independent of rain intensities. The results suggest that the new scheme should be adopted if the detectors are within 1 km from the source under the stable atmosphere (classes E and F), or the detectors are within 500 m under slightly unstable (class C) or neutral (class D) atmosphere. Otherwise, the infinite plane assumption is reasonable since the relative errors induced by this assumption are within 20%. The results here are only based on theoretical investigations. They should be further thoroughly evaluated with real measurements in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaole Zhang
- Institute of Public Safety Research, Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China; Institute for Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, D-76021, Germany.
| | - George Efthimiou
- Environmental Research Laboratory, INRASTES, NCSR "Demokritos", Patriarchou Grigoriou & Neapoleos Str., 15310, Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
| | - Yan Wang
- Institute of Public Safety Research, Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China
| | - Meng Huang
- State Key Laboratory for Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430079, PR China
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Begy RC, Simon H, Vasilache D, Kelemen S, Cosma C. 137Cs contamination over Transylvania region (Romania) after Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 599-600:627-636. [PMID: 28494287 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2017] [Revised: 05/02/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Following the radionuclide releases due to Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident, various studies were completed by researchers all over the world in order to measure the surface contaminations by artificial radionuclides. The aim of this study was to evaluate 137Cs surface contamination and to create an inventory distribution for Transylvania region (Romania) after the Chernobyl event using γ spectrometric measurements on soil samples collected from 153 locations. The results were compared to measured data from the Danube Delta and Moldova Republic, as well as to 137Cs concentrations from the rest of Europe reported by literature. The 137Cs surface concentrations in soil samples ranged between 0.4±0.1kBqm-2 and 301.1±3.0kBqm-2, having an average of 8.3±0.2kBqm-2, with more elevated values in the mountain areas (18.3±0.6kBqm-2) compared to the hills and plains (2.6±0.1kBqm-2). Taking into consideration the cardinal regions, the northern and western regions received the least amount of 137Cs (2.9±0.1kBqm-2), while the southern part received 16.3±0.6kBqm-2. Sampling points with eastern slope exposure received the highest average (27.8±0.5kBqm-2), while southern, north-western and north-eastern ones received less than 8kBqm-2. Two hotspots are reported at Iezer-Ighiel (72.7±5.9kBqm-2) and Tulgheș areas (51.5±0.6kBqm-2).
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Affiliation(s)
- R Cs Begy
- Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Fântânele 30, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Interdisciplinary Research Institute on Bio-Nano-Science, Babeș-Bolyai University, Treboniu Laurean 42, 400271 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - H Simon
- Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Fântânele 30, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
| | - D Vasilache
- Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Fântânele 30, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Sz Kelemen
- Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Fântânele 30, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Interdisciplinary Research Institute on Bio-Nano-Science, Babeș-Bolyai University, Treboniu Laurean 42, 400271 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - C Cosma
- Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Fântânele 30, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Interdisciplinary Research Institute on Bio-Nano-Science, Babeș-Bolyai University, Treboniu Laurean 42, 400271 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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Mitrakos D, Potiriadis C, Housiadas C. An approach for estimating the radiological significance of a hypothetical major nuclear accident over long distance transboundary scales. NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND DESIGN 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2016.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Evaluation of the radioactive contamination in fungi genus Boletus in the region of Europe and Yunnan Province in China. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2015; 99:8217-24. [PMID: 26048471 PMCID: PMC4561069 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-015-6668-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2015] [Revised: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 05/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Numerous species of wild-grown mushrooms are among the most vulnerable organisms for contamination with radiocesium released from a radioactive fallout. A comparison was made on radiocesium as well as the natural gamma ray-emitting radionuclide (40K) activity concentrations in the fruiting bodies of several valued edible Boletus mushrooms collected from the region of Europe and Yunnan Province in China. Data available for the first time for Boletus edulis collected in Yunnan, China, showed a very weak contamination with 137Cs. Radiocesium concentration activity of B. edulis samples that were collected between 2011 and 2014 in Yunnan ranged from 5.2 ± 1.7 to 10 ± 1 Bq kg−1 dry matter for caps and from 4.7 ± 1.3 to 5.5 ± 1.0 Bq kg−1 dry matter for stipes. The mushrooms Boletus badius, B. edulis, Boletus impolitus, Boletus luridus, Boletus pinophilus, and Boletus reticulatus collected from the European locations between 1995 and 2010 showed two to four orders of magnitude greater radioactivity from 137Cs compared to B. edulis from Yunnan. The nuclide 40K in B. badius was equally distributed between the caps and stipes, while for B. edulis, B. impolitus, B. luridus, B. pinophilus, and B. reticulatus, the caps were richer, and for each mushroom, activity concentration seemed to be more or less species-specific.
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