K. Morris et Fr. Livens, THE DISTRIBUTION OF TRANSURANIC ELEMENTS IN SEDIMENT PROFILES FROM ANINTERTIDAL AREA IN WEST-CUMBRIA, UK, Radiochimica Acta, 74, 1996, pp. 195-198
Intertidal areas in West Cumbria have received anthropogenic inputs of
the actinide elements via pipeline disposal of low level waste from t
he Sellafield reprocessing plant on the Cumbrian coast. The paper desc
ribes a sediment profile taken from an intertidal site containing radi
oactivity from the Sellafield reprocessing site. The profile mirrors t
he discharge history for plutonium isotopes, but shows a marked differ
ence to the discharge patterns anticipated for Np-237. The Np-237 prof
ile is explained in terms of remobilization within the soil core.