Transfer of radionuclides

Green N, Wilkins BT. 1995. Transfer of radionuclides to vegetable and other crops grown on land reclaimed from the sea. Sci Total Environ 173/174 385-392. 

McKay WA, Garland JA, Livesley D, et al. 1994. The characteristics of the shore-line sea spray aerosol and the landward transfer of radionuclides discharged to coastal sea water. Atmos Environ 28(21) 3299-3309. 

Stather JW, Adams N, Gray SA, et al. 1987. Comparative studies on the transfer of radionuclides to the fetus in the rat - implications for human dosimetry. In Age-related factors in radionuclide metabolism and dosimetry. Netherlands Kluwer Academic Publishers, 371-377. 

Data from McKay, W.A. and N.J. Pattenden. 1990. The transfer of radionuclides from sea to land via the air a review. Jour. Environ. Radioactiv. 12 49-77. 

Richmond, C.R. 1989. Transfer of radionuclides to animals — an historical perspective of work done in the United States. Sci. Total Environ. 85 1-15. 

Strand P., Howard B., Averin V., 1996. Intake of radionuchdes to man, in Transfer of radionuclides to animals, their comparative importance under different agricultural ecosystems and appropriate countermeasures. Final Report of ECP-9 - EUR 16539EN, Luxembourg, pp. 157-193. 

Some results of the simulation experiment are given in Figures 6.5 and 6.6. Figure 6.5 shows the tendency vs. time of the average content of radionuclear pollution on the whole Arctic water area. The distribution with depth is represented by a three-layer model, upper waters (z < 1 km), deep water (z > 1 km), and sediments. Bottom depth is taken as 1.5 km. More realistic depth representations of both shallow seas and the deeper Arctic Basin will be considered in a future refinement of the model. The curves describe the vertical distribution with time of the radionuclide content in two water layers and in sediments. The transfer of radionuclides from upper water to deep water occurs at a speed which results in the reduction of radionuclear pollution in upper water by 43.3% over 20 years. Such distributions for each Arctic sea are given in Table 6.11. 

Wilkins, B.T., Bradley, E.J. Fulker, M.J. (1988) The influence of different agricultural practices on the transfer of radionuclides from pasture to milk after the Chernobyl accident. The Science of the Total Environment, 68, 161-72. 

Bakken, L. R., Olsen, R. A. (1990). in Transfer of Radionuclides in Natural and Semi-natural Environments Desmet, G. M., Nassimbeni, P., Belli, M. (eds.) London Elsevier Applied Science pp. 664-668. 

One more important application is the eradication of radionuclides from animal products such as milk and meat produced by farm animals exposed to the contamination of radionuclides [69,70], and the lowering of the transference of radionuclides from soils to plants raised in contaminated areas [71]. 

The uptake of trace metals from the soil by plants and animals can be studied with high sensitivity by radiotracer techniques. In these applications, it is important that the chemical form of the radiotracer is identical with that of the trace element to be studied. For example, in agriculture, the uptake of trace elements necessary for plant growth can be investigated. Essential trace elements, such as Se, are of special interest. By use of radioactively labelled selenium compounds the transfer of this element from soil to plants and animals can be measured. For the investigation of the transfer of radionuclides (radioecology), addition of tracers is, in general, not needed. 

In radioecology, the transfer of radionuclides from water, soil or food to animals, man or plants is described in various ways. In aquatic ecosystems, concentration factors CF are detennined, given by the concentration c, (2) of a certain radionuclide i in microorganisms or animals in relation to the concentration c, (1) of that radionuclide in water at the same time CF = Ci(2)/cj(l). Some typical concentration factors for Cs and °Sr measured in freshwater and marine ecosystems are listed in Table 21.2. The influence of the competition of K and Na with Cs, and of Ca with °Sr, in marine ecosystems is obvious. 

The transfer from soil to vegetation is described by transfer factors TF, given by the activity in Bq per kg of dry plants, divided by the activity in Bq per m of the soil (m /kg). In agricultural ecosystems the transfer of radionuclides from grass to agricultural products, such as meat or milk, is characterized by various factors, which are listed in Table 21.3. 

Table 21.3. Factors used to characterize the transfer of radionuclides to meat (or milk). ...

G, Desmet, P. Nassimbeni, M. Belli (Eds,), Transfer of Radionuclides in Natural and Semi-Natural Environments, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1990... 

Bergman R. (1994) The distribution of radioactive caesium in boreal forest ecosystems. In Nordic Radioecology, the Transfer of Radionuclides through Nordic Ecosystems to Man Studies in Environmental Science. Studies in Environmental Science (ed. H. Dahlgaard). Elsevier, New York, vol. 62, pp. 335-379. 

The approach used is that outlined by Dodd B. and Humphries L.L., (1988) although significant input was also obtained from IAEA Safety Series No. 57, Generic Models and Parameters for Assessing the Environmental Transfer of Radionuclides from Routine Releases Exposures of Critical Groups (1982). 

The SEAM model has put together established models of atmospheric dispersion and deposition, terrestrial foodchains, marine dispersion and concentration in marine biota and the sea-to-land transfer of radionuclides. Environmental measurements from a wide variety of sources have been compared against values calculated from the discharge chronology and the SEAM model in order both to validate the model and to build confidence in the discharge chronology. 

Timmermans R, Van Hees M, Vandecasteele CH, et al. 1992. Transfer of radionuclides from maternal food to the fetus and nursing infants of minipigs. Radiat Prot Dosim 41(2/4) 127-130. 

Von Zallinger C, Tempel K. 1998. Transplacental transfer of radionuclides. A review. Vet Med (Prague) A45 581-590. 

M. J. Frissel, H. Noordijk and K. E. van Bergeijk, in The Transfer of Radionuclides in Natural and Semi-natural Environments, Elsevier Applied Science, London, 1990. 

Transfer of radionuclides and selected elements from soils through conifers and into honey... 

---