Plutonium in the Environment: Sources, Dissemination Mechanisms, and Concentrations

• Published in: Biology bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2022-12, Vol.49 (11), p.2081-2107
• Main Authors: Lukashenko, S. N., Edomskaya, M. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic environment; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell Biology; Contamination; Ecology; Emissions; Fallout; Isotopes; Life Sciences; Nuclear power plants; Oceans; Plutonium; Radionuclides; Zoology
• ISSN: 1062-3590; 1608-3059
• DOI: 10.1134/S1062359022110139

Information about the sources and mechanisms of plutonium release into the environment is summarized. The magnitudes and distribution of global plutonium fallout, as well as data on technogenic sources of plutonium isotope releases into the environment, are reviewed. For this purpose, the supply of plutonium as a result of nuclear explosions at test sites, such as Nevada, Semipalatinsk, Novaya Zemlya, etc., and the scale of environmental contamination as a result of tests were considered. The data on the intake of plutonium after nuclear and radiation accidents at nuclear power plants (Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Fukushima, etc.) and at enterprises of the nuclear complex (Kyshtym accident, etc.) are presented. Separately, plutonium intake into the natural environment through emissions and discharges of nuclear complex enterprises (Sellafield, MCC (Krasnoyarsk), etc.) is considered. Information about the levels and content of plutonium isotopes in various media and environmental objects, as well as information about the parameters characterizing the migration of plutonium in various media and the transition between them is generalized and presented. Forms of plutonium occurrence in soils (distribution by granulometric fractions, chemical forms, “hot” particles, etc.) are considered, and information on the characteristic levels of plutonium concentrations in soils for various objects is summarized. Data on the concentrations of plutonium in the air are given. Information on the forms of plutonium in the aquatic environment, as well as on the characteristic levels of plutonium concentrations in various water bodies, including the World’s oceans, is presented. Information on the transition coefficients of plutonium isotopes in the soil–plant system is summarized. Particular attention is paid to plutonium isotopes in biological objects and the human body.