Je. Pinder et al., THE DISTRIBUTION OF CS-137 IN SEDIMENTS OF THE LITTORAL-ZONE OF A FORMER REACTOR COOLING POND, Journal of environmental radioactivity, 28(1), 1995, pp. 57-71
Previous studies in Pond B, a 12-m deep, 82-ha reservoir that once ser
ved as a reactor cooling pond, had (i) suggested the preferential accu
mulation of Cs-137 in sediments at a water depth of 3m within the litt
oral zone and (ii) attributed this accumulation to the effects of eith
er macrophyte vegetation or sediment slope. To test for the preferenti
al accumulation of Cs-137 at intermediate depths within the littoral z
one, sediment cores were taken at water depths of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 and
5m along 6 transects in Pond B. The sediment structure was similar at
all water depths in the littoral zone with a surface layer of 0.02-0.0
4 m of plant debris and fine sediments over a base of sandy sediments.
The Cs-137 was largely restricted to the surface layer of fine sedime
nts, and there was no indication of preferential accumulation of fine
sediments or Cs-137 at water. depths of 3m. There was no apparent rela
tionship between sediment slope and Cs-137 content. Although the Cs-13
7 entered Pond B more than 20 years ago, its prevalence in the surface
layers of littoral zone sediments resembles the pattern observed for
Cs-134 deposited in European lakes from the recent Chernobyl accident.