Temporal and spatial survey of dissolved 226Ra in coastal waters of the eastern Irish Sea

Measuring and modelling temporal trends of 226Ra in waters of a Spanish estuary affected by the phosphate industry

“…Haridasan, Paul, and Desai (2001) found that the surface runoff of water from a phosphogypsum pile placed by the Chitrapuzha river (India) appears to be the major pathway of transport of Ra to the river. McCartney, Davidson, Howe, and Keating (2000) studied the effect of a reduction of the discharges from a phosphate plant in the levels of U and Th isotopes along the Cumbrian coast (UK), while Poole, Allington, and Denoon (1995) conducted a similar study but for 226 Ra.…”

Contamination and restoration of an estuary affected by phosphogypsum releases

“…The Cumbrian coast was also affected by former releases of phosphogypsum from the Albright and Wilson plant, with a subsequent self-cleaning of the sediments (Camplin et al, 1996;Keating et al, 1996;McCartney et al, 2000;Poole et al, 1995a,b). In the Cumbrian case, the fall in the concentration of natural radionuclides attached to the sediments was found to be related mostly to dissolution and dispersion by tidal flows (Poole et al, 1995b). However, the decreasing temporal evolution of the radioactivity contamination in the Huelva area follows a more complex pattern.…”

Alpha-emitting `hot particles' in the vicinity of BNFL Sellafield, Cumbria

“…Thorium, an alpha-emitting nuclide, is often found associated with the lanthanides, in minerals such as monazite, a phosphate of thorium, lanthanum and cerium. This particle may originate from the use of phosphate-based fertilisers in the study area or from a phosphoric acid plant at Whitehaven, used to process phosphate ore up to the early 1990s (Poole et al 1995). However, the distance between this plant and the sample area is more than 10 km and it is unlikely that the particle detected could have travelled that far.…”