Plutonium and uranium fallout from Maralinga and Emu nuclear detonation sites, South Australia, as environmental markers
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Date
2012-10-17
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Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
Abstract
Atmospheric nuclear testing was performed widely around the world, from the Russian test site at Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic circle to Maralinga in Southern Australia. These detonations introduced radioactive material into the atmosphere which would give rise to a roughly homogenised fallout signal in every topsoil
surface and sedimentary archive exposed to the atmosphere during this period. A large quantity of the radioactive material released was not homogeneously dispersed over the globe however, being released instead into the troposphere and falling out locally around the detonation sites. Each nuclear detonation generates fallout with a signature characteristic of weapon design. Local fallout has been shown to retain this individual signature if distinct from average global fallout. This study investigated the plutonium and uranium isotopic signatures and deposition patterns of several nuclear detonations carried out by the British
government at Maralinga and Emu, South Australia, and in the Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia. These tests are found to have 240Pu:239Pu atom ratios of 0.020 – 0.054, clearly distinguishable from global fallout for the Southern Hemisphere (0.176), and these signatures are distinct and undiluted at distances on the order of 100km from the detonation sites. 236U:Pu atom ratios have also been measured, and vary between 0.008 and 0.02. These findings have potential significance for the use of close-in plutonium and uranium fallout as chronological markers for geomorphological studies.
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Keywords
Plutonium, Uranium, Fallout, Nuclear test sites, South Australia, Australia, Environment, Geomorphology, Nuclear explosions, Troposphere
Citation
Child, D. P., Hotchkis, M. A. C., & Turner, S. P. (2012). Plutonium and uranium fallout from Maralinga and Emu nuclear detonation sites, South Australia, as environmental markers. Paper presented to the 12th South Pacific Environmental Radioactivity Association Conference (SPERA 2012), Sydney, Australia, Tuesday 16 October – Friday 19 October 2012. Lucas Heights, NSW: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. (pp. 30).