Radiological assessment of the ribble estuary—I. Distribution of radionuclides in surface sediments

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Abstract

Surface sediment samples were collected from the estuary of the River Ribble, UK, which is contaminated by radionuclides derived from BNFL Sellafield and Springfields. Activity concentrations were measured by gamma and alpha-spectrometry for 137Cs, 238Pu, 239,240Pu, 241Am (Sellafield-derived) and 228Th, 230Th, 232Th, 234Th, 234mPa, 234U and 238U (Springfields-derived). Activity concentrations for Sellafield-derived and Springfields-derived radionuclides, with the exception of 234Th and 234mPa, showed significant relationships with sediment grain size with higher levels in finer-grained sediments at upstream sites in the estuary. For 234Th and 234mPa, the relationship with grain size was obscured by the effect of the short half-life for 234Th. Their highest activity concentrations were also found at upstream sites with fine-grained sediments but were more likely to show variability at any given grain size. Repeated surveys showed that activity concentrations fluctuated over relatively short periods of time due to sediment redistribution throughout the estuary.

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      Knowledge of the potential quantity and fate of fine grained sediments within an estuarine environment is important in the understanding of the fate of sediment and particle reactive pollutants discharged into the marine environment (Rainey et al., 2003). Within the Ribble Estuary, much scientific attention has been given to the anthropogenic radionuclides discharged under license by Westinghouse Sellafield (MacKenzie et al., 1997; Brown et al., 1999; Tyler, 1999; Tyler et al., 2004) and Springfields Fuels Ltd (Assinder et al., 1997; Mudge et al., 1997a,b). Consequently, hydrodynamic models of the Ribble Estuary have been produced to replicate the fate and movement of the particulate-bound contaminants (Burton et al., 1995; Lyons, 1997; Gleizon, 1999; Gleizon et al., 2003).

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