Journal
Nature communications
ISSN: 2041-1723
Titre abrégé: Nat Commun
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101528555
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
09 03 2020
09 03 2020
Historique:
received:
03
09
2019
accepted:
13
02
2020
entrez:
11
3
2020
pubmed:
11
3
2020
medline:
11
3
2020
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Isotopic ratios of radioactive releases into the environment are useful signatures for contamination source assessment. Uranium is known to behave conservatively in sea water so that a ratio of uranium trace isotopes may serve as a superior oceanographic tracer. Here we present data on the atomic [Formula: see text]U/[Formula: see text]U ratio analyzed in representative environmental samples finding ratios of (0.1-3.7)[Formula: see text]10[Formula: see text]. The ratios detected in compartments of the environment affected by releases of nuclear power production or by weapons fallout differ by one order of magnitude. Significant amounts of [Formula: see text]U were only released in nuclear weapons fallout, either produced by fast neutron reactions or directly by [Formula: see text]U-fueled devices. This makes the [Formula: see text]U/[Formula: see text]U ratio a promising new fingerprint for radioactive emissions. Our findings indicate a higher release of [Formula: see text]U by nuclear weapons tests before the maximum of global fallout in 1963, setting constraints on the design of the nuclear weapons employed.
Identifiants
pubmed: 32152279
doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15008-2
pii: 10.1038/s41467-020-15008-2
pmc: PMC7062840
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1275Références
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