Radioactive 129I in surface water of the Celtic Sea

Peng He; Xiaolin Hou; Ala Aldahan; Göran Possnert

doi:10.1007/s10967-013-2792-4

Radioactive ¹²⁹I in surface water of the Celtic Sea

Peng He, Xiaolin Hou, Ala Aldahan, Göran Possnert

Department of Geoscience

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Relatively large amounts of radioactive iodine ¹²⁹I (T _1/2 = 15.7 Ma) have been documented in seawater such as the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the North Sea. Data on the concentration of the iodine isotopes in waters of the Celtic Sea are missing. Aiming to provide first ¹²⁹I data in the Celtic Sea and compare them with levels in the other close-by seawater bodies, surface seawater samples were analyzed for the determination of ¹²⁷I and ¹²⁹I concentrations. The results revealed a high level of ¹²⁹I in these waters and suggest strong influence by liquid discharges from La Hague and Sellafield reprocessing facilities. ¹²⁷I concentrations are rather constant while the ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I ratio reaches up to 2.8 × 10^-8 (ranging from 10^-10 to 10^-8), which is 2-4 orders of magnitude higher than pre-nuclear era natural level. Transport of ¹²⁹I to the Celtic Sea is difficult to depict accurately since available data are sparse. Most likely, however, that discharges originated from La Hague may have more influence on the Celtic Sea ¹²⁹I concentrations than the Sellafield. Comprehensive surface water and depth profiles ¹²⁹I data will be needed in the future for assessment of environmental impact in the region.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	249-253
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Volume	299
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-013-2792-4
Publication status	Published - Jan 2014

Keywords

Celtic Sea
I
Iodine
Nuclear reprocessing facilities

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Analytical Chemistry
Nuclear Energy and Engineering
Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
Pollution
Spectroscopy
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Access to Document

10.1007/s10967-013-2792-4

Cite this

@article{5f338b947e8a4fba91e0b6d552468619,

title = "Radioactive 129I in surface water of the Celtic Sea",

abstract = "Relatively large amounts of radioactive iodine 129I (T 1/2 = 15.7 Ma) have been documented in seawater such as the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the North Sea. Data on the concentration of the iodine isotopes in waters of the Celtic Sea are missing. Aiming to provide first 129I data in the Celtic Sea and compare them with levels in the other close-by seawater bodies, surface seawater samples were analyzed for the determination of 127I and 129I concentrations. The results revealed a high level of 129I in these waters and suggest strong influence by liquid discharges from La Hague and Sellafield reprocessing facilities. 127I concentrations are rather constant while the 129I/127I ratio reaches up to 2.8 × 10-8 (ranging from 10-10 to 10-8), which is 2-4 orders of magnitude higher than pre-nuclear era natural level. Transport of 129I to the Celtic Sea is difficult to depict accurately since available data are sparse. Most likely, however, that discharges originated from La Hague may have more influence on the Celtic Sea 129I concentrations than the Sellafield. Comprehensive surface water and depth profiles 129I data will be needed in the future for assessment of environmental impact in the region.",

keywords = "Celtic Sea, I, Iodine, Nuclear reprocessing facilities",

author = "Peng He and Xiaolin Hou and Ala Aldahan and G{\"o}ran Possnert",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments The authors thank the Swedish Polar Secretary and the Swedish Research Council For logistic and financial support. Thanks are also extended to the crew of the Icebreaker Oden for their continuous help and livelihood and to Anna Storm Sturevik for the generous help with the sampling onboard the ship.",

year = "2014",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1007/s10967-013-2792-4",

language = "English",

volume = "299",

pages = "249--253",

journal = "Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry",

issn = "0236-5731",

publisher = "Elsevier BV",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Radioactive 129I in surface water of the Celtic Sea

AU - He, Peng

AU - Hou, Xiaolin

AU - Aldahan, Ala

AU - Possnert, Göran

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments The authors thank the Swedish Polar Secretary and the Swedish Research Council For logistic and financial support. Thanks are also extended to the crew of the Icebreaker Oden for their continuous help and livelihood and to Anna Storm Sturevik for the generous help with the sampling onboard the ship.

PY - 2014/1

Y1 - 2014/1

N2 - Relatively large amounts of radioactive iodine 129I (T 1/2 = 15.7 Ma) have been documented in seawater such as the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the North Sea. Data on the concentration of the iodine isotopes in waters of the Celtic Sea are missing. Aiming to provide first 129I data in the Celtic Sea and compare them with levels in the other close-by seawater bodies, surface seawater samples were analyzed for the determination of 127I and 129I concentrations. The results revealed a high level of 129I in these waters and suggest strong influence by liquid discharges from La Hague and Sellafield reprocessing facilities. 127I concentrations are rather constant while the 129I/127I ratio reaches up to 2.8 × 10-8 (ranging from 10-10 to 10-8), which is 2-4 orders of magnitude higher than pre-nuclear era natural level. Transport of 129I to the Celtic Sea is difficult to depict accurately since available data are sparse. Most likely, however, that discharges originated from La Hague may have more influence on the Celtic Sea 129I concentrations than the Sellafield. Comprehensive surface water and depth profiles 129I data will be needed in the future for assessment of environmental impact in the region.

AB - Relatively large amounts of radioactive iodine 129I (T 1/2 = 15.7 Ma) have been documented in seawater such as the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the North Sea. Data on the concentration of the iodine isotopes in waters of the Celtic Sea are missing. Aiming to provide first 129I data in the Celtic Sea and compare them with levels in the other close-by seawater bodies, surface seawater samples were analyzed for the determination of 127I and 129I concentrations. The results revealed a high level of 129I in these waters and suggest strong influence by liquid discharges from La Hague and Sellafield reprocessing facilities. 127I concentrations are rather constant while the 129I/127I ratio reaches up to 2.8 × 10-8 (ranging from 10-10 to 10-8), which is 2-4 orders of magnitude higher than pre-nuclear era natural level. Transport of 129I to the Celtic Sea is difficult to depict accurately since available data are sparse. Most likely, however, that discharges originated from La Hague may have more influence on the Celtic Sea 129I concentrations than the Sellafield. Comprehensive surface water and depth profiles 129I data will be needed in the future for assessment of environmental impact in the region.

KW - Celtic Sea

KW - I

KW - Iodine

KW - Nuclear reprocessing facilities

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84892826451&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84892826451&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10967-013-2792-4

DO - 10.1007/s10967-013-2792-4

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84892826451

SN - 0236-5731

VL - 299

SP - 249

EP - 253

JO - Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

JF - Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

IS - 1

ER -