Artificial radioactive contamination of sediments along the Romanian sector of the Danube river and the Black Sea coast

Abstract

The concentrations of 9~ 23Spu, 239'24~ and 24lAin were determined in 12 sediment samples, collected from the bed of the Romanian sector of the Danube river and the Black Sea coast during 1996-1997. The samples were dissolved using a microwave digestion technique which left the refractory part of the samples undissolved. Part of the samples were also dissolved totally by alkaline fusion. The results obtained after radiochemical separations and measurement of the radionuclides by the two dissolution methods were compared recommending the optimum method. The radioactive contamination of the investigated sector in 1996-1997 is compared with the results obtained for the same locations in 1994-1995 reported in previous papers.

Contributions to the Database Concerning the Radioactivity of the Danube River and the Black Sea Coast Romanian Sector

“…The following studies focused on enlarging the area of the radionuclide investigation obtaining their profiles along the Danube River from its entrance to Romania till its flow into the Black Sea. Radiochemical procedures for the separation and determination of the long-lived actinides , [15][16][17]. The ICP-AES results for the chemical composition of the sediment samples reported the same pattern of accumulation for trace elements in the sediments as the one for the radionuclides [18].…”