Tritium in Streams, Well Waters and Atomic Lakes at the Semi-Palatinsk Nuclear Test Site: Present Status And Future Perspectives

Mitchell, P.I.; Vintró, Luis León; Howlett, J. G.; Burkitbayev, Mukhambetkali; Priest, Nicholas; Strilchuk, Yu. G.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8317-4_5

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…4) The higher tritium concentrations recorded in the Chagan River (6.5 Bq L -1 in the present study, but 36 Bq L -1 [4] and up to 281 kBq L -1 [5][6] are not accompanied by any enrichment of deuterium -indeed, deuterium appears to be depleted in these waters. For this river, the main source of tritium remains the Balapan test field area that is located upstream.…”

Section: The Effect Of Evaporation On Tritium Water Activitysupporting

confidence: 46%

“…This was undertaken because exportation of tritium from Balapan to the Chagan River was invoked by Mitchell et al [4] to explain the relatively high tritium activity measured in this river (36 ± 3 Bq L -1 ). In fact, other measurements in this river closer to Balapan indicated tri-tium levels as high as 281.000 Bq L -1 [5] and levels of this magnitude could only have resulted from tritium migration from the underground tests at Balapan. Similarly, streams draining the Degelen Mountains test area contain tritium levels of ~140.000 Bq L -1 [4,6].…”

Section: Environmental Context Sampling and Analysismentioning

confidence: 80%

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Hydrological Behaviour of Tritium on the Former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (Kazakhstan) Determined using Stable Isotope Measurements

Pourcelot¹,

Vintró

Mitchell

et al. 2013

Eurasian Chem. Tech. J.

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Tritium and stable isotope (deuterium 2H and 18O) concentrations have been determined in natural waters collected from shallow lakes, wells, streams and rivers inside and in the vicinity of the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (NE Kazakhstan). The Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS) was one of the main proving grounds for the testing of nuclear weapons by the former Soviet Union. Tritium activity concentrations have been determined by liquid scintillation counting, while hydrogen isotopic composition have been determined using a GV-Isoprime mass spectrometer coupled to an elemental analyzer. Tritium activity concentrations recorded in lake waters (in most cases >10 Bq L-1) were significantly higher than those in well, stream and the Irtysh River waters. In lake waters, enrichments in deuterium and 18O (δD and δ18O varying between –5 and –64 ‰ V-SMOW and –8.4 and +5.5 ‰ V-SMOW, respectively), and high salt concentrations, strongly suggest that significant evaporation has occurred. In contrast, deuterium and tritium signatures of common’ surface and underground waters at the STS were mostly typical of present-day isotope backgrounds of natural waters in NE Kazakhstan. In STS, come salt lakes like Bajansor and Tumatsor with elevated tritium activity from 12 to 15 Bq L-1 lie close to the Global Meteoric Water Line. The potential tritium source for these lakes is residual concentration of tritium after former nuclear test in STS. The study provides evidence to show that export of tritium from underground nuclear test areas and tritium enrichment produced by evaporation are both important determinants of tritium concentrations in standing waters on the Semipalatinsk test site.

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Section: The Effect Of Evaporation On Tritium Water Activitysupporting

confidence: 46%

Section: Environmental Context Sampling and Analysismentioning

confidence: 80%

Hydrological Behaviour of Tritium on the Former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (Kazakhstan) Determined using Stable Isotope Measurements

Pourcelot¹,

Vintró

Mitchell

et al. 2013

Eurasian Chem. Tech. J.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent data on tritium levels in the above-mentioned waters, sampled in July 2002, show the relative absence of tritium in domestic wells in Sarzhal and very low levels in other wells in the study area (Mitchell et al, 2008(Mitchell et al, , 2005Priest et al, 2003). This indicates that these wells are not currently affected by surface or sub-surface transport of radionuclides from test tunnels in the Degelen Mountains or boreholes adjacent to the study area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%