Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T02:01:19.244Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The 2002/2003 radionuclide concentration in the marine environment at various distances from the Barsebäck nuclear power plant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2008

M. Zakaria ,
C. L. Rääf  and
S. Mattsson
M. Zakaria
Affiliation:
Department of Radiation Physics, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden.
C. L. Rääf
Affiliation:
Department of Radiation Physics, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden.
S. Mattsson
Affiliation:
Department of Radiation Physics, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden.
Get access

Abstract

The activity concentration of 137Cs, 131I, 65Zn, 60Co, 58Co, 54Mn, and 40K were determined in samples of brown seaweed (Fucus) and some other marine plants using low background high-resolution gamma-spectrometry. The algae were mainly sampled in the bay just north of the Barsebäck NPP (55.4 N, 12.6 E) in the south of Sweden to study the contamination levels in the nearest shallow waters. One aim of the study was to investigate whether the levels were high enough to expect environmental effects. Some samples were also taken at longer distances up to 130 km from the Barsebäck NPP. Measurable levels of the neutron activation products 65Zn (up to 17 Bq/kg dw), 60Co (100–600 Bq/kg dw), 58Co (1–160 Bq/kg dw) and 54Mn (12–90 Bq/kg dw) were found in the algae samples within a distance of 5 km from the plant. The decrease in activity concentration with distance from the plant could be described by a power function with an exponent ranging from 1.4 to 2.4.This was in fair agreement with the value for a true two-dimensional dispersion model. The present-day concentrations were found to be considerably lower than in earlier studies made in the late 1970s, especially for 65Zn and 58Co. The activity concentration of gamma emitting radionuclides in Fucus vesiculosus from the bay just north of Barsebäck in the period 2002-2003 was dominated by (in order of decreasing concentration): natural 40K, 60Co from the plant, 137Cs mainly from the Chernobyl debris, 54Mn and 58Co from the plant. It is not likely that any effects from the very marginal absorbed dose contribution from the Barsebäck NPP releases can be found even in the nearest environment. The study has also shown that the eelgrass Zostera marina may be a bioindicator to use in further studies of the radiation environment in shallow water, especially for 60Co and 54Mn.

Keywords

Barsebäck NPPfucusactivation productsmarine environment
Type
Research Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , July 2008 , pp. 429 - 438
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Carlson L., Erlandsson B. (1991) Effects of Salinity on the Uptake of Radionuclides by Fucus vesiculosus, J. Environm. Radioact. 13, 309-322. CrossRef
Goldstrand C. (2002) Barsebäcksverkets utläppskontroll 1:a halvåret 2002: Redovisning av radioaktiva utsläpp till luft och vatten under 1:a hlvåret 2002. SSI-document BVT-B2-200209-105, Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSI), 2002.
Holm E. (1994) Sources and distribution of anthropogenic radionuclides in the marine environment, Holm E., Ed., Radioecology lectures in environmental radioactivity. World Scientific, Singapore, pp.76-77.
Larsson P. (2002) Personal communication, Department of Chemical Ecology/Ecotoxicology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Mattsson S., Erlandsson B. (1991) Variation of the 137Cs levels in Fucus from the Swedish westcoast during a 25 years period, Moberg L., Ed., The Chernobyl fallout in Sweden- Results from a research programme on environmental radiology, Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSI), Stockholm, pp. 143-144.
Mattsson, S., Finck, R., Nilsson, M. (1980a) Distribution of activation products from Barsebäck nuclear power plant (Sweden) in the marine environment. Temporal and spatial variations as established by seaweed, Environmental Pollution (Ser. B) 1, 105-115. CrossRef
Mattsson S., Nilsson M., Holm E. (1980b) Radioecological studies of activation products released from a nuclear power plant into the marine environment, Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of IRPA, Jerusalem, Vol. III, pp. 323-326.
Nilsson M., Dahlgaard H., Edgren M., Holm E., Mattsson S., Notter M. (1980) Radionuclides in Fucus from inter-Scandinavian water. Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Impacts of Radionuclide Releases into the Marine Environment, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienne, IAEA-SM-248, pp. 107-111.
PTMSC (2003) Website accessed in 2003: http://www.ptmsc.org/html/eelgrass.html. Port Townsend Marine Science Center, 2003, Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA, USA.
SMHI (1981) Swedish Meterological and Hydrological Institute, Oceanographic investigations outside the nuclear power plant of Barsebäck 1967-1980, Report 1981-05-08, Dnr 79/324, Norrköping, Sweden.
Wijk H., Luning M. (2001) Utsläpps- och omgivningskontroll vid de kärntekniska anläggningarna 2000. Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSI), Report 2001:25.