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Exploitable results
The research addresses the important question of the assessment of soil contamination by alpha-active nuclides (essentially isotopes of plutonium) in contaminated regions of the former Soviet Union. Thus it combines research teams from Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarussia, together with European Union teams from the University of Mainz and Imperial College London. The contaminates sites of relevance here are the nuclear weapons testing site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, contaminated land from fuel cycle plants in Russia and regions of southern Belarussia contaminated as a result of the Chernobyl accident. The aim, has been to investigate simple and cost effective generic methodologies, for estimating this alpha contamination - simple and cost effective compared with full radiochemical and alpha counting analysis, which is time consuming and expensive. Further, to refine/modify this method for the particular additional contamination conditions of the particular regions considered. Thus the primary emphasis has been on measuring the more readily detectable isotope americium-241 which is closely associated with and related by decay to, plutonium isotopes. Modifications for individual regions are necessary due to the often strong contamination of deposits with fission products, which interfere with the detection of gamma/x-rays from americium and plutonium isotopes. In addition, as has been discovered during this research, soils near nuclear explosion epicentres will be contaminated with isotopes of europium due to the intense irradiation of soils from the explosions.
As a result of the research, three simple procedures for soil decontamination from interfering radionuclides have been investigated with the result that the method of co-precipitation of plutonium and americium with oxalic salts has been adopted. As a result of sampling exercises in Belarussia, a standardised sampling technique has been developed which will be extended to the other co-operating states in follow on research. Soil samples taken as various distances from underground and atmospheric explosion sites in Kazakhstan have been collected and measured an investigation of soil samples from sites of contaminated chemical plant site has begun. The feasibility of the direct analysis soil contamination, by gamma/x-ray counting has been demonstrated successfully, albeit with inferior detection limits to the procedures using prior chemical decontamination. Classical radiochemical analyses have been carried out to underpin this instrumental research. Various standard soil and activity samples, for laboratory intercalibration have been established and analyzed.
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