Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T22:49:37.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sellafield-Derived Anthropogenic 14C in the Marine Intertidal Environment of the NE Irish Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

G T Cook ,
A B MacKenzie ,
G K P Muir ,
G Mackie  and
P Gulliver
G T Cook*
Affiliation:
SUERC, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
A B MacKenzie
Affiliation:
SUERC, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
G K P Muir
Affiliation:
SUERC, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
G Mackie
Affiliation:
SUERC, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
P Gulliver
Affiliation:
SUERC, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland NERC Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The intertidal biota from Parton beach, close to the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, were all found to be enriched in radiocarbon relative to ambient background. The degree of enrichment appears to reflect the positions of the biota in the food chain once the dilution in seaweed from atmospheric uptake is taken into account. Close to the low-water mark, the order was mussels > limpets > anemones winkles > seaweed. The same order was observed close to the high-water mark, except that anemones were absent from this area. The activities in the biogeochemical fractions of the water column reflect the fact that discharges are primarily in the form of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), which is subsequently transferred to the particulate organic carbon (POC) and, to a lesser extent, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and finally, the particulate inorganic carbon (PIC). Analysis of intertidal sediment suggests that there is likely to be a gradual increase in the specific activity of 14C in the inorganic component of this material as Sellafield contaminated organisms die and their shells are ground down by natural processes.

Type
Part II
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 46 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 18th International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2), Conference Editors: Nancy Beavan Athfield, Rodger J Sparks , 2004 , pp. 877 - 883
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Barnes, RD. 1987. Invertebrate Zoology, 5th Edition. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing, International Edition.Google Scholar
Begg, FH. 1992. Anthropogenic 14C in the natural aquatic environment [PhD dissertation]. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. 262 p.Google Scholar
Begg, FH, Cook, GT, Baxter, MS, Scott, EM, McCartney, M. 1992. Anthropogenic radiocarbon in the eastern Irish Sea and Scottish coastal waters. Radiocarbon 34(3):707–16.Google Scholar
BNFL. 1997. Annual report on radioactive discharges and monitoring of the environment 1996, Volume 1. British Nuclear Fuels plc, Risley.Google Scholar
BNFL. 2002. Discharges and monitoring of the Environment in the UK—Annual Report 2001. British Nuclear Fuels plc, Risley.Google Scholar
Gulliver, P. 2002. Geochemistry and budgetary considerations of 14C in the Irish Sea [PhD dissertation]. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. 263 p.Google Scholar
Gulliver, P, Cook, GT, MacKenzie, AB, Naysmith, P, Anderson, R. 2001. Transport of Sellafield-derived 14C from the Irish Sea through the North Channel. Radiocarbon 43(2B):869–77.Google Scholar
Isogai, K, Cook, GT, Anderson, R. 2002. Reconstructing the history of 14C discharges from Sellafield: 1. Atmospheric discharges. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 59:207–22.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, AB. 2000. Environmental radioactivity: experience from the 20th century—trends and issues for the 21st century. The Science of the Total Environment 249:313–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolstenholme, A. 1999. The biogeochemistry of 14C within the Irish Sea [PhD dissertation]. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. 182 p.Google Scholar