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Título del libro: Radioactive Contamination Research Developments
Título del capítulo: Natural radioactivity and radioactive contamination in sea water

Autores UNAM:
JUAN MANUEL NAVARRETE TEJERO; GRACIELA EDITH MULLER CARRERA;
Autores externos:

Idioma:
Inglés
Año de publicación:
2010
Resumen:

If it is assumed the sea water volume as approximately 1.4x1018 m3, then it might be considered as an enormous radioactive source, since it contains a considerable concentration of K atoms, with 0.0118% of them as 40K, radioisotope with half life equal to 1.28x109 years. As a matter of fact, 40K radioactivity is easily measured during few hours detection time if about half a liter of dry marine sediment is conditioned in a Marinelli container fitted around an 3"x3" NaI(Tl) scintillation crystal heavily shielded to complete a low background detection set. If pure sea water is detected instead, it must be required to concentrate the sample by evaporation, 7 or 9 liters to half a liter of salt, i.e 14 or 18 times, to easily evaluate radioactivity due to 40K solved in sea water. Efficiency detection of this natural radioisotope in the low background detection system is even easier to obtain, when half a liter of KCl with known weight and number of 40K atoms are detected during few minutes. So, quite independent of any possible radioactive contamination, we have already a permanent background due to radioactive decay of 40K either in any marine sediment or sea water, which is a function of the K salts dissolved in water from any sea in the planet. However, environmental radioactive contamination has taken place either by provoked nuclear explosions or failure in power and experimental nuclear reactors. These events cause the presence of radioactive fission products in the environment, which mainly by wind and rain go into sea. Therefore, from second war on, we have a radioactive background by fission products in sea, besides the abundant 40K and some other radioisotopes created continuously by nuclear reactions in the stratosphere. Since radioactivity always decreases with time, only radioisotopes with enough half life remain either as contaminants (such as fission product 137Cs, t1/2= 30 years), or natural radioisotopes (such as 40K, t1/2= 1.28x109 years). It is proposed here that a way to evaluate the damaging importance of present and future radioactive contamination be made by detection of these two radioisotopes in sea water (Bq/L) and marine sediments (Bq/g, dry basis), performed according the above described procedures. The not units radioactive contamination factor (RCF) should be the


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