Plutonium transfer to wildlife at legacy sites
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Date
2013-06-16
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Georgia
Abstract
When internalized within an organism’s body, plutonium (Pu) can be important in dose calculation due to its relatively high-energy alpha emissions (~5-6 MeV). In this paper we quantify transfer of Pu to a range of wildlife types at legacy nuclear weapons sites and evaluate the importance of body tissue Pu distribution in the transfer of Pu through the food chain. The paper presents new data from Maralinga, Australia, as well as past data from terrestrial and marine settings of the US nuclear research program.
Description
Keywords
Plutonium, Emission, Wild animals, Food chains, Nuclear weapons, Research programs
Citation
Johansen, M. P., Child, D. P., Harrison, J. J., Kamboj, S., Kuhne, W. W., Payne, T. E., Thiruvoth, S., & Wood, M. D. (2013). Plutonium Transfer to Wildlife at Legacy Sites. Paper presented at the 12th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements (ICOBTE), 16-20 June 2013, Athens, Georgia , USA.