Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-06T16:59:39.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Transport of Sellafield-Derived 14C from the Irish Sea through the North Channel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Pauline Gulliver ,
Gordon T Cook ,
Angus B MacKenzie ,
Philip Naysmith  and
Robert Anderson
Pauline Gulliver*
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research & Reactor Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
Gordon T Cook
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research & Reactor Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
Angus B MacKenzie
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research & Reactor Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
Philip Naysmith
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research & Reactor Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
Robert Anderson
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research & Reactor Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland
*
Corresponding author email: P.gulliver@nercrcl.gla.ac.uk.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Since the early 1950s, the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Northwest England has released radiocarbon into the Irish Sea in a mainly inorganic form as part of its authorized liquid effluent discharge. In contrast to the trend in which the activities of most radionuclides in the Sellafield liquid effluent have decreased substantially, 14C discharges have increased since 1994–95. This has largely been due to a policy change favoring marine discharges over atmospheric discharges. 14C is radiologically important due to its long half life, mobility in the environment, and propensity for entering the food chain. Current models for radionuclide dispersal in the Irish Sea are based on a reversible equilibrium distribution coefficient (kd), an approach which has been shown to be inadequate for 14C. Development of predictive models for the fate of Sellafield-derived 14C requires a thorough understanding of the biogeochemical fluxes between different carbon reservoirs and the processes controlling the net flux of 14C out of the Irish Sea, through the North Channel. In this study, both an empirical and a halving time approach indicate that close to 100% of the 14C that is discharged from Sellafield is dispersed beyond the Irish Sea on a time-scale of months in the form of DIC, with little transfer to the PIC, POC, and DOC fractions, indicating that the “dilute and disperse” mechanism is operating satisfactorily. This is consistent with previous research that indicated little transfer of 14C to Irish Sea sediments. While significant 14C enhancements have been observed in the biota of the Irish Sea, this observation is not necessarily in conflict with either of the above as the total biomass has to be taken into account in any calculations of 14C retention within the Irish Sea.

Type
II. Our ‘Wet’ Environment
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 43 , Issue 2B: Proceedings of the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 3), Conference Editors: Israel Carmi, Elisabetta Boaretto , 2001 , pp. 869 - 877
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Barker, H. 1953. Radiocarbon dating: large scale preparation of acetylene from organic material. Nature 172:631–2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Begg, FH. 1992. Anthropogenic 14C in the natural aquatic environment [PhD thesis]. University of Glasgow.Google Scholar
Begg, FH, Baxter, MS, Cook, GT, Scott, EM, McCartney, M. 1991. Anthropogenic 14C as a tracer in western UK coastal waters. In: Kershaw, PJ, Woodhead, DS, editors. Radionuclides in the study of marine processes. Elsevier Applied Science. p 52–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Begg, FH, Cook, GT, Baxter, MS, Scott, EM, McCartney, M. 1992. Anthropogenic radiocarbon in the eastern Irish Sea and Scottish coastal waters. Radiocarbon 34(3):704–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowden, KF. 1950. Processes affecting the salinity of the Irish Sea. Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Geophysical Supplement 6:63–90.Google Scholar
Brown, J, Gmitrowicz, EM. 1995. Observations of the transverse structure and dynamics of the low frequency flow through the North Channel of the Irish Sea. Continental Shelf Research 15(9):1133–56.Google Scholar
Burr, GS, Thomas, JM, Reines, D, Courtney, C, Jull, AJT. 2001. Sample preparation of dissoloved organic carbon in groundwater for AMS 14C analysis. Radiocarbon 43(2). This issue.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, RP, White, IF, Smith, GM. 1983. Carbon-14 waste management. UK atomic energy research establishment report R10543- Harwell. Google Scholar
Cook, GT, Begg, FH, Naysmith, P, Scott, EM, McCartney, M. 1995. Anthropogenic 14C marine geochemistry in the vicinity of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Radiocarbon 37(2):459–67.Google Scholar
Cook, GT, MacKenzie, AB, McDonald, P, Jones, SR. 1997. Remobilisation of Sellafield-derived radionuclides and transport from the North East Irish Sea. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 35(3):227–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, GT, MacKenzie, AB, Naysmith, P, Anderson, R. 1998. Natural and anthropogenic 14C in the UK coastal marine environment. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 40(1):89–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fry, B, Peltzer, ET, Hopkinson, CS Jr, Nolin, A, Redmond, L. 1996. Analysis of marine DOC using a dry combustion method. Marine Chemistry 54:191–201.Google Scholar
Gray, J, Jones, SR, Smith, AD. 1995. Discharges to the environment from the Sellafield site, 1951–1992. Journal of Radiological Protection 2:99–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, DW, MacMurdo, KW. 1977. Carbon-14 production by the nuclear industry. Health Physics 32:215–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hetherington, JA. 1975. The behavior of plutonium nuclides in the Irish Sea. In: Miller, MW, Stannard, JN, editors. Environmental toxicity of aquatic radionuclides: models and mechanisms. Ann Arbor Science Publishers Inc. p 81–105.Google Scholar
Hetherington, JA, Jefferies, DF. 1974. The distribution of some fission product radionuclides in sea and estuarine sediments. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 8(4):319–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howarth, MJ. 1982. Non-tidal flow in the North Channel of the Irish Sea. In: Nihoul, JCJ, editor. Hydrodynamics of semi-enclosed shelf seas. Amsterdam: Elsevier. p 205–241.Google Scholar
Hunt, GJ, Kershaw, PJ. 1990. Remobilisation of artificial radionuclides from the sediment of the Irish Sea. Journal of Radiological Protection 10:147–51.Google Scholar
Hunt, GJ, Smith, BD, Camplin, WC. 1998. Recent changes in liquid radioactive waste discharges from Sellafield to the Irish Sea: monitoring of the environmental consequences and radiological implications. Radiation Protection Dosimetry 75:149–53.Google Scholar
IAEA. 1991. Quarterly Journal of the IAEA. IAEA Bulletin 33(4).Google Scholar
Jefferies, DF, Preston, A, Steele, AK. 1973. Distribution of caesium-137 in British coastal waters. Marine Pollution Bulletin 4:118–22Google Scholar
Jefferies, DF, Steele, AK, Preston, A. 1982. Further studies in the distribution of 137Cs in British coastal waters. 1. Irish Sea. Deep Sea Research 29(6a):713–38.Google Scholar
Kelly, GN, Jones, JA, Bryant, PM, Morley, F. 1975. The predicted radiation exposure of the population of the European Community resulting from discharges of Krypton-85, Tritium, Carbon-14 and Iodine-129 from the nuclear power industry to the year 2050. Commission of the European Communities, Luxembourg. V/2676/75. Google Scholar
Knight, PJ, Howarth, MJ. 1999. The flow through the North Channel of the Irish Sea. Continental Shelf Research 19:693–716.Google Scholar
McCartney, M, Kershaw, PJ, Woodhead, DS, Denoon, DC. 1994. Artificial radionuclides in the surface sediments of the Irish Sea, 1968–1988. The Science of the Total Environment 141:103–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKay, WA, Baxter, MS. 1985 The partitioning of Sellafield-derived radiocaesium in Scottish coastal sediments. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 2:93–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKenzie, AB, Baxter, MS, McKinley, IG, Swan, DS, Jack, W B. 1979. The determination of 134Cs, 137Cs, 210Pb, 226Ra and 228Ra concentrations in near shore marine sediments and seawater. Journal of Radioanalytical Chemistry 48:29–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKenzie, AB, Scott, RD, Williams, TM. 1987. Mechanisms for northwards dispersal of Sellafield Waste. Nature 329:42–5.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, AB, Cook, GT, McDonald, P, Jones, SR. 1998. Influence of mixing timescales and re-dissolution processes on the distribution of radionuclides in northeast Irish Sea sediments. Journal of Environmental Radio-Activity 39(1):35–53.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, AB. 2000. Environmental radioactivity: experience from the 20th century—trends and issues for the 21 st century. Science of the Total Environment 249:313–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKinley, IG, Baxter, MS, Ellett, DJ, Jack, W. 1981. Tracer applications of radiocaesium in the Sea of the Hebrides. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 13:69–82.Google Scholar
Otlet, RL, Fulker, MJ, Walker, AJ. 1992. Environmental impact of atmospheric carbon-14 emissions from the nuclear energy cycle. In: Taylor, RE, Long, A, Kra, RS, editors. Radiocarbon after four decades. New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Pentreath, RJ, Lovett, MB, Jefferies, DF, Woodhead, DS, Tarbot, JW, Mitchell, NT. 1984. Impact on public radiation exposure of transuranium nuclides discharged in liquid wastes from fuel element reprocessing at Sellafield, United Kingdom. Radioactive Waste Management. Vol. 5. Vienna: IAEA.Google Scholar
Ramster, JW, Hill, HW. 1969. The current system in the Northern Irish Sea. Nature 224:59–61.Google Scholar
Slota, PJ Jr, Jull, AJT, Linick, TW, Toolin, LJ. 1987. Preparation of small samples for 14C accelerator targets by catalytic reduction of CO. Radiocarbon 29(2):303–6.Google Scholar
UNSCEAR. 1993. Sources and effects of ionising radiation. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Report to the General Assembly. New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
Wolstenholme, A, Cook, GT, MacKenzie, AB, Nay smith, P, Meadows, PS, McDonald, P. 1998. The behavior of Sellafield derived 14C in the Northeast Irish Sea. Radiocarbon 40(1):447–58.Google Scholar
Wolstenholme, A. 1999. The biogeochemistry of 14C within the Irish Sea [PhD thesis]. University of Glasgow.Google Scholar
Young, EF, Aldridge, JN, Brown, J. 2000. Development and validation of a three dimensional curvilinear model for the study of fluxes through the North Channel of the Irish Sea. Continental Shelf Research 20:997–1035.Google Scholar