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Radiocarbon and Other Environmental Isotopes in the Groundwater of the Sites for a Planned New Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Jonas Mažeika ,
Tõnu Martma ,
Rimantas Petrošius ,
Vaidotė Jakimavičiūtė-Maselienė  and
Žana Skuratovič
Jonas Mažeika
Affiliation:
Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania, Akademijos str. 2, LT–08412 Vilnius, Lithuania
Tõnu Martma
Affiliation:
Tallinn University of Technology, Institute of Geology, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia
Rimantas Petrošius
Affiliation:
Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania, Akademijos str. 2, LT–08412 Vilnius, Lithuania
Vaidotė Jakimavičiūtė-Maselienė
Affiliation:
Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania, Akademijos str. 2, LT–08412 Vilnius, Lithuania Vilnius University, M.K. Čiurlionio str. 21/27, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
Žana Skuratovič*
Affiliation:
Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania, Akademijos str. 2, LT–08412 Vilnius, Lithuania
*
4Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

The assessment of construction sites for the new Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant (Visaginas NPP), including groundwater characterization, took place over the last few years. For a better understanding of the groundwater system, studies on radiocarbon; tritium; stable isotopes of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon; and helium content were carried out at the location of the new NPP, at the Western and Eastern sites, as well as in the near-surface repository (NSR) site. Two critical depth zones in the Quaternary aquifer system were characterized by different groundwater residence times and having slightly different stable isotope features and helium content. The first shallow interval of the Quaternary multi-aquifer system consists of an unconfined aquifer and semiconfined aquifer. The second depth interval of the system is related to the lower Quaternary confined aquifer. Groundwater residence time in the first flow system was mainly based on tritium data and ranges from 6 to 60 yr. These aquifers are the most important in terms of safety assessment and are considered as a potential radionuclide transfer pathway in safety assessment. Groundwater residence time in the lower Quaternary aquifers based on 14C data varies from modern to several thousand years and in some intervals up to 10,500 yr.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 951 - 962
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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