Accelerator mass spectrometry measurements of 233U in groundwater, soil and vegetation at a legacy radioactive waste site
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Date
2024-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Low-level radioactive wastes were disposed at the Little Forest Legacy Site (LFLS) near Sydney, Australia between 1960 and 1968. According to the disposal records, 233U contributes a significant portion of the inventory of actinide activity buried in the LFLS trenches. Although the presence of 233U in environmental samples from LFLS has been previously inferred from alpha-spectrometry measurements, it has been difficult to quantify because the 33U and 234U α-peaks are superimposed. Therefore, the amounts of 233U in groundwaters, soils and vegetation from the vicinity of the LFLS were measured using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The AMS results show the presence of 233U in numerous environmental samples, particularly those obtained within, and in the immediate vicinity of, the trenched area. There is evidence for dispersion of 233U in groundwater (possibly mobilised by co-disposed organic liquids), and the data also suggest other sources of 233U contamination in addition to the trench wastes. These may include leakages and spills from waste drums as well as waste burnings, which also occurred at the site. The AMS results confirm the historic information regarding disposal of 233U in the LFLS trenches. The AMS technique has been valuable to ascertain the distribution and environmental behaviour of 233U at the LFLS and the results demonstrate the applicability of AMS for evaluating contamination of 233U at other radioactive waste sites. © 2024 Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
Description
Keywords
Uranium, Spectroscopy, Ground water, Soils, Radioactive waste storage, Plants, Radioactive wastes, Mass spectrometers, Alpha spectrometers, Environment, HIFAR Reactor, AAEC, Research reactors
Citation
Payne, T. E., Harrison, J. J., Child, D. P., Hankin, S., Hotchkis, M. A. C., Hughes, C. E., Johansen, M. P., Thiruvoth, S., & Wilsher, K. L. (2024). Accelerator mass spectrometry measurements of 233U in groundwater, soil and vegetation at a legacy radioactive waste site. Chemosphere, 358, 141761. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141761