Cs137 and some of the interfering K40 and Rb87 are concentrated from seawater by coprecipitation with ammonium molybdophosphate. K40 and Rb87 are separated from the Cs137 by column chromatography. In these separations zirconium phosphate is used as an ion exchanger for K40 prior to the separation of the Rb87 on Bio-Rex 40. After purification the cesium is mounted for counting as the permanganate and its chemical recovery determined by flame photometry. (Author).
This book presents the results from the Japanese Fisheries Research Agency’s 3-year intensive monitoring of radionuclides in a variety of fish, plankton, benthos, and their living environments after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident in March 2011. The book reveals the dynamics of contamination processes in marine and freshwater fish, mediated by the contamination of water, sediments, and food organisms; it also clarifies the mechanisms by which large variations in the level of contamination occurs among individual fish. Most importantly, the book includes a large amount of original measurement data collected in situ and for the first time assesses diffusion of radiocesium across the Pacific using both in situ data and a numerical simulation model. Also introduced are several new approaches to evaluate the impact of the release of radionuclides, including the measurement of radiation emission from an otolith section to identify the main period of contamination in fish. The FNPP accident represents a rare instance where the environmental radioactivity level was elevated steeply through atmospheric fallout and direct discharge of radioactive water into the sea over a short period of time. Replete with precise scientific data, this book will serve as an important resource for research in fields such as fishery science, oceanography, ecology, and environmentology, and also as a solid basis for protecting fisheries from damage resulting from harmful rumors among the general public.
Analysis of Seawater deals with the investigation of the micro-constituents in seawater in terms of nutrient content and environmental concerns. The book describes sampling, determination of anions, analysis of dissolved gases, and metal preconcentration techniques. The book also deals with monitoring radioactive elements, the determination of seawater organics, organometallic compounds, and the oxygen-demand parameters in seawater. It describes in detail surface and deep water sampling, the types of devices used, storage, preservation, and prevention of contamination during sample analysis. In examining dissolved gases, the investigator can use the amperometric titrimetric method (with some reservations) on chlorine, the ultraviolet method on ozone, electron capture gas chromatography on nitric oxide, and also the flow injection analysis on hydrogen sulphide. The methods for determining metals in seawater concern either for single element or for groups of elements. The investigator should always initiate various pre-concentration techniques when determining metals due to their low concentration and occurrence in seawater. The investigator uses various methods to determine different radioactive compounds such as uranium, polonium, thorium, radium, barium, radon, plutonium, strontium-90, and cesium-137. The book can be beneficial for meteorologists, environmentalists, marine ecologists, biologists, oceanographers, fisheries experts, for students studying hydrology, meteorology, as well as for river and lake authorities.
The purpose of this book is to present a state of art summary of current knowledge of methods of assessment of radionuclides in the terrestrial and marine environments. It cover the traditional methods of radioactivity measurements such as radiometrics techniques, but also recent developments in the mass spectrometry sector. The book starts with a short preface introducing the subject of the book, summarising content and philosophy of the book, as well as the most important historical achievements. The scientific topics are introduced by description of sampling methods, optimisation of sampling sites and sampling frequency. The recent developments in radiochemical separation methods using chromatography resins for the treatment of actinides, transuranics and other groups of radioelements are also described. No other book is available covering all aspects of environmental radioactivity measurements, although remarkable progress has been made in detection techniques over the last ten years. At present the new methods enable to carry out investigations which were not possible before, either because of lack of sensitivity or because of the fact that they required too large samples.
This book, the third in the series Behavior of Radionuclides in the Environment, is dedicated to Fukushima. Major findings from research since 2011 are reviewed concerning the behavior of radionuclides released into the environment due to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, including atmospheric transport and fallout of radionuclides, their fate, and transport in the soil-water environment, behavior in freshwater, coastal and marine environment, transfer in the terrestrial and agricultural environment. Volume III discusses not only radionuclides dynamics in the environment in the short- and mid-term, but also modeling and prediction of long-term time changes. Along with reviews, the book contains original data and results not published previously. It was spearheaded by the authors from the Institute of Environmental Radioactivity at Fukushima University, established two years after the Fukushima accident, with their collaborators from Japan, Russia, and Ukraine. The knowledge emerging from the studies of the environmental behavior of Fukushima-derived radionuclides enables us to move forward in understanding mechanisms of environmental contamination and leads to better modeling and prediction of long-term pollution effects in general.
