Potential sources affecting the activity concentrations of 238U, 235U, 232Th and some decay products in lettuce and wheat samples.

The activity concentrations of radionuclides within the uranium and thorium series were determined in wheat and lettuce at five sites in France, and in their respective potential sources: crop soils of wheat and crop soils and irrigation waters of lettuce. These data were used to calculate concentration ratios and to enrich the database supported by the technical report series N°472 of the IAEA (2010). For wheat and lettuce, the activity concentrations were in the same range for all radionuclides studied, except for (210)Pb, which had higher activity concentrations in wheat, ranging between 1.3 and 11 Bq kg(−1) (fresh weight) as compared to 0.4 and 0.7 Bq kg(−1) (fresh weight) for lettuce. For wheat, the range of activity concentrations (mBq kg(−1); fresh weight) decreased as (210)Pb > (226)Ra (56­1511) ≈ (228)Ra (86­769) > (228)Th (19­176) ≈ (238)U (11­169) ≈ (234)U (12­150) ≈ (230)Th (9.08­197.18) ≈ (232)Th (8.61­121.45) > (235)U (0.53­7.9). For lettuce, it decreased as (228)Ra (<320­1221) > (210)Pb (409­746) > (226)Ra (30­599) ≈ (228)Th (<29­347) > (238)U (8­120) ≈ (234)U (8­121) ≈ (230)Th (5.21­134.63) ≈ (232)Th (5.25­156.99) > (235)U (0.35­5.63). The species differences may reflect different plant physiologies. Through the study of activity ratios of wheat and lettuce in relation with those of the various radionuclide sources it has been possible to highlight the contribution of the main sources of natural radionuclides. Indeed, irrigation water when the uranium concentration is enhanced (>30 mBq L(−1)) contributed significantly to the activity concentration of uranium in lettuces. Concerning the high activity concentrations of (210)Pb, it could be explained by atmospheric particle deposition. The effect of soil particles resuspension and their adhesion to the plant surface seemed to be important in some cases. The soil-to-plant transfer factors were calculated for lettuce and wheat. The values were lower in wheat than in lettuce except for (210)Pb which had similar values in the two species (0.11­0.13 respectively). For both species, (210)Pb followed by (228)Ra (0.015­0.10) and (226)Ra (0.010­0.051) displayed the highest transfer factor, whereas (238)U had intermediate values (0.0015­0.030) and (232)Th exhibited the lowest (0.0014­0.013).

Study on transfers of uranium, thorium and decay products from grain, water and soil to chicken meat and egg contents.

Activity concentrations of the uranium and thorium series radionuclides were determined in chicken meat and eggs as well as in soil, water and other dietary intakes of poultry at five sites of the French territory. These data allow the calculation of transfer coefficients which enrich the database given by the technical report series no. 472 of the IAEA. In egg contents, the highest activity concentrations (in mBq kg(-1) fresh weight) are for (226)Ra, ranging between 136 and 190 and are much lower for uranium (between 0.51 and 1.30 for (238)U). In chicken meat, (238)U activity concentration is higher than in egg contents and ranges between 1.7 and 9.7. Concerning (232)Th, its activity concentration is lower than uranium and ranges between 0.5 and 4.9. Daily ingested activity concentration by the animals was assessed taking into account the activity concentrations measured in the grains, in the soil and in the drinking water. The activity concentration in grains and the daily intakes allow the calculation of concentration ratios and transfer coefficients for chicken meat and egg contents. In chicken meat the transfer coefficients (d kg(-1)) range between 0.0018 and 0.0073 for (238)U and between 0.0008 and 0.0028 for (232)Th. In egg contents they range from 0.00018 to 0.0018 for (238)U and are much higher for radium isotopes (0.10-0.23 for (226)Ra and 0.07-0.11 for (228)Ra).

Radioisotope contaminations from releases of the Tomsk-Seversk nuclear facility (Siberia, Russia).

Soils have been sampled in the vicinity of the Tomsk-Seversk facility (Siberia, Russia) that allows us to measure radioactive contaminations due to atmospheric and aquatic releases. Indeed soils exhibit large inventories of man-made fission products including 137Cs (ranging from 33,000 to 68,500 Bq m(-2)) and actinides such as plutonium (i.e. 239+240Pu from 420 to 5900 Bq m(-2)) or 241Am (160-1220 Bq m(-2)). Among all sampling sites, the bank of the Romashka channel exhibits the highest radioisotope concentrations. At this site, some short half-life gamma emitters were detected as well indicating recent aquatic discharge in the channel. In comparison, soils that underwent atmospheric depositions like peat and forest soils exhibit lower activities of actinides and 137Cs. Soil activities are too high to be related solely to global fallout and thus the source of plutonium must be discharges from the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) plant. This is confirmed by plutonium isotopic ratios measured by ICP-MS; the low 241Pu/239Pu and 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios with respect to global fallout ratio or civil nuclear fuel are consistent with weapons grade signatures. Up to now, the influence of Tomsk-Seversk plutonium discharges was speculated in the Ob River and its estuary. Isotopic data from the present study show that plutonium measured in SCC probably constitutes a significant source of plutonium in the aquatic environment, together with plutonium from global fallout and other contaminated sites including Tomsk, Mayak (Russia) and Semipalatinsk (Republic of Kazakhstan). It is estimated that the proportion of plutonium from SCC source can reach 45% for 239Pu and 60% for 241Pu in the sediments.