Objective
One of the most important problems in radioecology is the assessment of environmental contamination due to alpha-active nuclides. The cause of such contamination may be from the testing of nuclear weapons, incidents at reprocessing plants which are part of the nuclear fuel cycle, and the Chernobyl accident.
The main features of alpha contamination are: that the most important component, plutonium, contains additional heavy nuclides (Pu-240, Pu-241, Pu-242) associated with a significant and progressively increasing contribution from Am-241; that the contamination has a dispersed structure determined by its composition and nuclide migration capacity; and that the particular soil surface will be contaminated non-homogeneously. It is therefore necessary to analyse (according to a sampling strategy) a relatively large number of samples in order to characterise the contamination pattern.
Until now, analyses of soil alpha-contamination have been performed predominantly by radiochemical methods. Such procedures are labour and time intensive, involve highly skilled personnel and are therefore expensive. This means that measurement on a mass scale is not possible. One of the main aims of this project is to develop and bring into practical use simple and effective methods for the measurement and control of natural surfaces contaminated with alpha-active nuclides and the development of the relevant equipment for large scale measurement programmes. For this purpose the project aims to develop a method based on gamma-spectrometric measurements of Am-241 and to make use of characteristic correlation between the americium and plutonium concentration in the soil. Because the nature of the contamination varies significantly between the relevant regions in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, distinct versions of the methodology will be developed and assessed.
Emphasis will be placed on quality assurance through the preparation and exchange of primary and secondary contaminated soil samples. The two west European participants, in London and Mainz, will participate in this with the use of standard wet chemistry, decayed neutron and advanced mass spectrometry methods.
The eventual aim is the establishing of a quality assurance procedure on sampling and the developing of new and simplified methodologies to analyse alpha-active components in contaminated soil in a cost-effective manner appropriate to the local conditions.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding Scheme
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Coordinator
SL5 7TE ASCOT
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.