Characterization of Pu concentration and its isotopic composition in soils of Gansu in northwestern China

Plutonium in Soils from Northeast China and Its Potential Application for Evaluation of Soil Erosion

“…Based on the depth profile of Pu in the DL-01 soil core, the estimated total inventory of 239 + 240 Pu of 86.9 ± 3.1 Bq/m 2 (Table 1) agreed very well with those reported values in soil profiles in similar latitude (30 ~ 40°N) in Korea (84 ~ 88 Bq/m 2 )24. A slightly higher 239 + 240 Pu inventory (101.8 Bq/m 2 ) in Euiwang, Korea24, lower values in Hubei (44.9 ~ 54.6 Bq/m 2 )30 and Lanzhou (32.4 Bq/m 2 )29 in China have also been reported. The deviation of 239 + 240 Pu inventory in the DL-01 core from those values might be attributed to the differences in the locations and climate of specific location.…”

“…The measured 240 Pu/ 239 Pu atomic ratios in all soil samples in this work agreed very well with the reported values of the global fallout as well as those in similar latitude in China, such as soil samples from Gansu province (40°N, 97° E) of 0.169 ~ 0.192 with an average of 0.182 ± 0.008 (1σ)29, and from Hubei province (31°N, 112°E) of 0.172 ~ 0.22030. Similar 240 Pu/ 239 Pu atomic ratios of 0.157 ~ 193 with an average of 0.182 ± 0.012 (1σ) have also been reported in a sediment core collected in Lake Sihailongwan, northeast China (42°20′N, 126°50′E)33.…”

“…Nonetheless, quantification of soil erosion using Pu isotopes has not yet been well established up to date, and very few baseline data of Pu isotopes have been reported22232425. Although concentrations of Pu isotopes in surface soils have been measured in many sites worldwide in the past 40 years232627, a few works on Pu distribution in Chinese soils (less than 15 sampling sites, mainly surface soils) have been reported282930 and no data of Pu isotopes in soils from northeast China is available.…”

Simultaneous determination of radiocesium (135Cs, 137Cs) and plutonium (239Pu, 240Pu) isotopes in river suspended particles by ICP-MS/MS and SF-ICP-MS

“…Briefly, the Fe(OH) 3 method was used to co-precipitate Pu isotopes in the sample solution [27]: 4 mg Fe 2 þ (0.2 mL of 20 mg Fe/mL in 1 M HNO 3 ) was added and then Pu in the solution was reduced to Pu(III) by adding 0.2 g of NH 2 OH Á HCl and heating at 90°C for 2 h. After cooling to room temperature, the pH of the solution was adjusted to 9-10 with NH 4 OH to co-precipitate Pu with Fe(OH) 3 . The formed precipitates were dissolved in 18 mL of conc.…”

Concentration and characterization of plutonium in soils of Hubei in central China

“…However, data on the regional distribution of Pu in Chinese soil is scarce and, when available, limited: Zhu et al (2002) used the 137 Cs concentration and the global fallout 239þ240 Pu/ 137 Cs ratio (0.02) to estimate the 239þ240 Pu concentration; Plutonium in the areas surrounding Lake Bosten were reported by Lin et al (1992), using alpha spectrometry (which does not readily provide a 240 Pu/ 239 Pu atom ratio); Sediment cores from the East China Sea, which was proposed to be influenced by the Pacific Proving Ground (PPG) source Pu, are presented by Wang and Yamada (2005); and cores from Hongfeng Lake, in Southwest China, which appear to contain global fallout and hence can be used as a monitor, have been reported by Zheng et al (2008). Recently, Zheng et al (2009) studied the concentration and the characterization of Pu in loess from Gansu Province, Northwest China. To our knowledge no systematic study has been published in the literature on the distribution of Pu isotopes, especially in central China.…”