Technetium in the environment

We discussed the sources of artificial occurrence of Tc at the beginning of this chapter and demonstrated that the nuclear fuel cycle is the predominant source of Tc in the environment. Other, much less important, sources are the fallout from nuclear weapons testing, the Chernobyl accident, nuclear power production and the radiopharmaceutical use of the metastablc Tc decaying to ground state Tc. The natural occurrence of Tc formed in the earth s crust by spontaneous fission of and neutron-induced fission of in uranium ores are negligible. 

Taking into account the kind of sources and the chemistry of technetium, c will be released to the environment as pertcchnetate. Its behavior in the environment attracted much attention during the last two decades due to the long physical half-life of I c and the solubility and mobility of TCO4 in aquatic systems. Considerable effort has been made to understand the long-term biogeochemical behavior of c, its transfer in food chains and the mechanisms controlling its mobility in diverse environments [17]. 

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Luykx F (1986) in Desmet G, Myttenaere C (eds) Technetium in the Environment. Elsevier Applied Science, New York, p 21... 

Yoshida, J. Electrochemical Reactions of Organosilicon Compounds. 170, 39-82 (1994). Yoshihara, K. Chemical Nuclear Probes Using Photon Intensity Ratios. 157, 1-34 (1990). Yoshihara, K. Recent Studies on the Nuclear Chemistry of Technetium. 176, 1-16 (1996). Yoshihara, K. Technetium in the Environment. 176, 17-36 (1996). 

Desmet, G. M., Myttenaere, C. (1986). Technetium in the Environment, London Elsevier Applied Sciences. 

Sparkes, S. T., Long, S. E. (1988). The Chemical Speciation of Technetium in the Environment a Literature Survey. Harwell Report, AERE-R 12743 (DOE/RW/88098), Harwell, UK. 

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