Determination of 129i in water and air samples near a reprocessing plant by neutron activation analysis

A review on 129I analysis in air

“…The measurement made at a location 78 km upwind from the reprocessing plant was not completely out of influence but appeared to be representative of the regional background. Doshi et al, observed 1.02 Â 10 8 atoms m À3 of particulate 129 I at about 1.8 km from Trombay reprocessing plant, India comparable to particulate concentration 0.62 Â 10 8 atoms m À3 observed by Wershofen and Aumann near WAK reprocessing plants (Doshi et al, 1994).…”

“…A wet oxidation coupled with distillation at 50e60 C in presence of hydrogen peroxide, hydroxylamine hydrochloride and sodium nitrite has been used. The distillate is collected in alkaline solution (Doshi et al, 1994;Nedveckaite and Filistowicz, 1993). The chemical yield of procedure was found to be less than 70%.…”

“…Presently, most of the monitoring is focused on 129 I concentrations and 129 I/ 127 I atomic ratios in a variety of media other than air, including inland water systems, vegetation and animal thyroids. Enhanced levels of 129 I have been reported in the vicinities of nuclear spent fuel reprocessing plants in USA, Europe, Japan, and India (Brauer et al, 1974;Doshi et al, 1994;Fritz and Paton, 2006;Parry, 2001;Tsukada et al, 1991;Wershofen and Aumann, 1989) but information on atmospheric deposition of 129 I far away from installations of nuclear industry is limited making it difficult to model atmospheric transport of possible future releases.…”

Atmospheric Dispersal of 129Iodine from Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facilities

“…Additional studies of 129 I in the atmosphere focused on regional emissions from known point sources, such as the Hanford, WA, site (8), the reactor at Chernobyl (1), the Bhahba Atomic Research Centre (9), the Karlsruhe fuel reprocessing facility (10), the Savannah River Plant (4), and the now defunct fuel reprocessing facility at West Valley, NY (11). In many cases the goal of the study was to assess the dose of 129 I to humans, which is acquired from foodstuffs via the rainwatersoil-plant pathway.…”

“…b WL, West Lafayette, IN; B, Bryan, TX; CS, College Station, TX; G, Galveston, TX. 25389 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / VOL. 33, NO 15,.…”