Localisation, isolation and leaching of single hot particles from various environmental matrices in the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
-
Published:08 Dec 2023
-
Special Collection: 2023 ebook collection
L. Leifermann, M. Weiss, I. Chyzhevskyi, S. Dubchak, P. Hanemann, M. Raiwa, ... C. Walther, in Environmental Radiochemical Analysis VII, ed. N. Evans, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023, vol. 357, pp. 1-18.
Download citation file:
For decades now, leaching and corrosion of fuel-containing ‘hot’ particles have been a constant source of bioavailable contamination in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. With the decline in average size and activity of these particles due to weathering effects, their identification and separation from various environmental matrices has become increasingly difficult. In this work, we showcase and compare the applicability of different identification methods for the extraction of very small (10-200 µm in diameter) individual particles. Flotation and radiometric methods are optimized to the environmental matrix and particle type. Single particles glued to tungsten needles are immersed into liquids to correlate radionuclide leaching with particle morphology and composition.