AMS measurement of 129I, 36C1 and 14C in underground waters from Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls

AMS analyses of 36Cl, 129I and 14C in underground water have been performed as part of IAEA’s assessment of the radiological situation at Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls. The samples consisted of waters from monitoring wells, and from two cavity-chimneys created by underground nuclear tests. The water samples from the monitoring wells contained varying concentrations of radionuclides, with the highest concentrations of radionuclides found in the two test cavity-chimneys. A comparison of the concentrations of radionuclides determined by AMS, 36Cl and 129I, and with radionuclides determined using conventional methods, 3H, 90Sr and 137Cs, shows a reasonable correlation. However, some differences in behaviour, mainly attributed to differences in the sorption characteristics of the elements, are discernible. The concentrations of radionuclides in the underground environment were used to validate geosphere transport models. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

Keywords

Nuclear test sites, Underground, Water, Chimneys, Radioisotopes, Sorption

Citation

Jacobsen, G. E., Hotchkis, M. A. C., Fink, D., Child, D. P., Tuniz, C., Sacchi, E., Levins, D. M., Povinec, P. P., & Mulsow, S. (2000). AMS measurement of 129I, 36C1 and 14C in underground waters from Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls. Presented at 8th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, 6 - 10 September 1999, Vienna, Austria. In Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 172(1–4), 666-671. doi:10.1016/S0168-583X(00)00102-6