C and Other Radionuclides in the Environment in the Border Region of Lithuania Before the Start of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant Operation

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9244261
AutoresJonas Mažeika (0000-0003-1168-5394), Olga Jefanova, Rimantas Petrošius, Galina Lujanienė, Žana Skuratovič (0000-0002-5090-3932)
Año2022
Volumen64
Número6
Páginas1309-1322
Fecha de publicación2022-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaRadiocarbon (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/rdc.2022.20
OpenAlexW4224257602
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas18

In this paper, we analyze the background activity of anthropogenic radionuclides ( 14 C, 3 H, 137 Cs, and 239,240 Pu), emphasizing 14 C content, in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Lithuanian border region before the commissioning of a new nuclear power plant in Belarus (BelNPP). In terrestrial samples, the 14 C concentration varied insignificantly—from 98.6 ± 0.7 to 102.2 ± 0.8 pMC, which is close to the 14 C level in atmospheric CO 2 . In aquatic samples, the 14 C concentration varied within wide limits from 76.9 ± 0.7 to 99.6 ± 0.6 pMC, depending on the ecological group of macrophytes. Various ecological groups of macrophytes have experienced the influence of a freshwater reservoir effect. This lowest 14 C content in submerged macrophyte species, within the limits of uncertainty, was very close to the specific activity of 14 C in DIC (78.6 ± 0.6 pMC) in the water of the Neris River. The background 14 C values, together with the data on 3 H, 137 Cs and 239,240 Pu obtained in this study, can be used in the future to assess the contribution of the BelNPP conventional radioactive effluents to the levels of 14 C and other radionuclides in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the transboundary region of Belarus and Lithuania

Aquatic ecosystem · Aquatic plant · Biology · Ecosystem · Effluent · Macrophyte · Nuclear physics · Nuclear power plant · Physics · Polonium · Radiochemistry · Radionuclide · Terrestrial ecosystem · Terrestrial plant · Chemistry · Environmental Science · Nuclear and radioactivity studies · Radioactive contamination and transfer · Radioactivity and Radon Measurements · Ecology · Environmental Chemistry · Environmental Engineering