Mathew P. Johansen

The IAEA handbook on radionuclide transfer to wildlife

An IAEA handbook presenting transfer parameter values for wildlife has recently been produced. Concentration ratios (CRwo-media) between the whole organism (fresh weight) and either soil (dry weight) or water were collated for a range of wildlife groups (classified taxonomically and by feeding strategy) in terrestrial, freshwater, marine and brackish generic ecosystems. The data have been compiled in an on line database, which will continue to be updated in the future providing the basis for subsequent revision of the Wildlife TRS values. An overview of the compilation and analysis, and discussion of the extent and limitations of the data is presented. Example comparisons of the CRwo-media values are given for polonium across all wildlife groups and ecosystems and for molluscs for all radionuclides. The CRwo-media values have also been compared with those currently used in the ERICA Tool which represented the most complete published database for wildlife transfer values prior to this work. The use of CRwo-media values is a pragmatic approach to predicting radionuclide activity concentrations in wildlife and is similar to that used for screening assessments for the human food chain. The CRwo-media values are most suitable for a screening application where there are several conservative assumptions built into the models which will, to varying extents, compensate for the variable data quality and quantity, and associated uncertainty.

Whole-body to tissue concentration ratios for use in biota dose assessments for animals

Environmental monitoring programs often measure contaminant concentrations in animal tissues consumed by humans (e.g., muscle). By comparison, demonstration of the protection of biota from the potential effects of radionuclides involves a comparison of whole-body doses to radiological dose benchmarks. Consequently, methods for deriving whole-body concentration ratios based on tissue-specific data are required to make best use of the available information. This paper provides a series of look-up tables with whole-body:tissue-specific concentration ratios for non-human biota. Focus was placed on relatively broad animal categories (including molluscs, crustaceans, freshwater fishes, marine fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) and commonly measured tissues (specifically, bone, muscle, liver and kidney). Depending upon organism, whole-body to tissue concentration ratios were derived for between 12 and 47 elements. The whole-body to tissue concentration ratios can be used to estimate whole-body concentrations from tissue-specific measurements. However, we recommend that any given whole-body to tissue concentration ratio should not be used if the value falls between 0.75 and 1.5. Instead, a value of one should be assumed.

Radiological Dose Rates to Marine Fish from the Fukushima Daiichi Accident: The First Three Years Across the North Pacific

A more complete record is emerging of radionuclide measurements in fish tissue, sediment, and seawater samples from near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) and across the Pacific Ocean. Our analysis of publicly available data indicates the dose rates to the most impacted fish species near the FDNPP (median 1.1 mGy d(-1), 2012-2014 data) have remained above benchmark levels for potential dose effects at least three years longer than was indicated by previous, data-limited evaluations. Dose rates from (134,137)Cs were highest in demersal species with sediment-associated food chains and feeding behaviors. In addition to (134,137)Cs, the radionuclide (90)Sr was estimated to contribute up to approximately one-half of the total 2013 dose rate to fish near the FDNPP. Mesopelagic fish 100-200 km east of the FDNPP, coastal fish in the Aleutian Islands (3300 km), and trans-Pacific migratory species all had increased dose rates as a consequence of the FDNPP accident, but their total dose rates remained dominated by background radionuclides. A hypothetical human consumer of 50 kg of fish, gathered 3 km from the FDNPP in 2013, would have received a total committed effective dose of approximately 0.95 mSv a(-1) from combined FDNPP and ambient radionuclides, of which 0.13 mSv a(-1) (14%) was solely from the FDNPP radionuclides and below the 1 mSv a(-1) benchmark for public exposure.

Assessing doses to terrestrial wildlife at a radioactive waste disposal site: Inter-comparison of modelling approaches

Radiological doses to terrestrial wildlife were examined in this model inter-comparison study that emphasised factors causing variability in dose estimation. The study participants used varying modelling approaches and information sources to estimate dose rates and tissue concentrations for a range of biota types exposed to soil contamination at a shallow radionuclide waste burial site in Australia. Results indicated that the dominant factor causing variation in dose rate estimates (up to three orders of magnitude on mean total dose rates) was the soil-to-organism transfer of radionuclides that included variation in transfer parameter values as well as transfer calculation methods. Additional variation was associated with other modelling factors including: how participants conceptualised and modelled the exposure configurations (two orders of magnitude); which progeny to include with the parent radionuclide (typically less than one order of magnitude); and dose calculation parameters, including radiation weighting factors and dose conversion coefficients (typically less than one order of magnitude). Probabilistic approaches to model parameterisation were used to encompass and describe variable model parameters and outcomes. The study confirms the need for continued evaluation of the underlying mechanisms governing soil-to-organism transfer of radionuclides to improve estimation of dose rates to terrestrial wildlife. The exposure pathways and configurations available in most current codes are limited when considering instances where organisms access subsurface contamination through rooting, burrowing, or using different localised waste areas as part of their habitual routines.

Movement of a tritium plume in shallow groundwater at a legacy low-level radioactive waste disposal site in eastern Australia.

Between 1960 and 1968 low-level radioactive waste was buried in a series of shallow trenches near the Lucas Heights facility, south of Sydney, Australia. Groundwater monitoring carried out since the mid 1970s indicates that with the exception of tritium, no radioactivity above typical background levels has been detected outside the immediate vicinity of the trenches. The maximum tritium level detected in ground water was 390 kBq/L and the median value was 5400 Bq/L, decay corrected to the time of disposal. Since 1968, a plume of tritiated water has migrated from the disposal trenches and extends at least 100 m from the source area. Tritium in rainfall is negligible, however leachate from an adjacent and fill represents a significant additional tritium source. Study data indicate variation in concentration levels and plume distribution in response to wet and dry climatic periods and have been used to determine pathways for tritium migration through the subsurface.

Trophic Shifts Involving Native and Exotic Fish During Hydrologic Recession in Floodplain Wetlands

Stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) and gut contents were analysed for two species of co-occurring native and exotic fish in three shallow water bodies within an Australian riparian wetland system. During a period of hydrologic recession we found depletions in δ13C of up to −25‰ for algae and −2‰ for sediment organic matter (SOM). The native Hypseleotris sp. (carp gudgeon) and the exotic Cyprinus carpio (common carp) were depleted in δ13C up to −3.2‰, indicating that the SOM was the dominant dietary source of carbon for the two species of fish in both high- and the receded low-water conditions. In the low-water conditions, however, there was a five-fold increase in the occurrence of insects in the gut of the exotic C. carpio and the trophic positions of C. carpio and Hypseleotris sp. were more similar in all three water bodies than at high-water conditions. Our results indicate that there were shifts in dietary sources and trophic positions during hydrologic recession and provide evidence that flow reductions in wetland systems can increase the dietary overlap between native and exotic fishes.

Trench 'bathtubbing' and surface plutonium contamination at a legacy radioactive waste site.

Radioactive waste containing a few grams of plutonium (Pu) was disposed between 1960 and 1968 in trenches at the Little Forest Burial Ground (LFBG), near Sydney, Australia. A water sampling point installed in a former trench has enabled the radionuclide content of trench water and the response of the water level to rainfall to be studied. The trench water contains readily measurable Pu activity (∼12 Bq/L of 239+240Pu in 0.45 μm-filtered water), and there is an associated contamination of Pu in surface soils. The highest 239+240Pu soil activity was 829 Bq/kg in a shallow sample (0–1 cm depth) near the trench sampling point. Away from the trenches, the elevated concentrations of Pu in surface soils extend for tens of meters down-slope. The broader contamination may be partly attributable to dispersion events in the first decade after disposal, after which a layer of soil was added above the trenched area. Since this time, further Pu contamination has occurred near the trench-sampler within this added layer. The water level in the trench-sampler responds quickly to rainfall and intermittently reaches the surface, hence the Pu dispersion is attributed to saturation and overflow of the trenches during extreme rainfall events, referred to as the ‘bathtub’ effect.

Biotic, temporal and spatial variability of tritium concentrations in transpirate samples collected in the vicinity of a near-surface low-level nuclear waste disposal site and nearby research reactor.

The results of a 21 month sampling program measuring tritium in tree transpirate with respect to local sources are reported. The aim was to assess the potential of tree transpirate to indicate the presence of sub-surface seepage plumes. Transpirate gathered from trees near low-level nuclear waste disposal trenches contained activity concentrations of (3)H that were significantly higher (up to ∼700 Bq L(-1)) than local background levels (0-10 Bq L(-1)). The effects of the waste source declined rapidly with distance to be at background levels within 10s of metres. A research reactor 1.6 km south of the site contributed significant (p < 0.01) local fallout (3)H but its influence did not reach as far as the disposal trenches. The elevated (3)H levels in transpirate were, however, substantially lower than groundwater concentrations measured across the site (ranging from 0 to 91% with a median of 2%). Temporal patterns of tree transpirate (3)H, together with local meteorological observations, indicate that soil water within the active root zones comprised a mixture of seepage and rainfall infiltration. The degree of mixing was variable given that the soil water activity concentrations were heterogeneous at a scale equivalent to the effective rooting volume of the trees. In addition, water taken up by roots was not well mixed within the trees. Based on correlation modelling, net rainfall less evaporation (a surrogate for infiltration) over a period of from 2 to 3 weeks prior to sampling seems to be the optimum predictor of transpirate (3)H variability for any sampled tree at this site. The results demonstrate successful use of (3)H in transpirate from trees to indicate the presence and general extent of sub-surface contamination at a low-level nuclear waste site.

Measurement of fallout radionuclides, (239)(,240)Pu and (137)Cs, in soil and creek sediment: Sydney Basin, Australia.

Soil and sediment samples from the Sydney basin were measured to ascertain fallout radionuclide activity concentrations and atom ratios. Caesium-137 ((137)Cs) was measured using gamma spectroscopy, and plutonium isotopes ((239)Pu and (240)Pu) were quantified using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Fallout radionuclide activity concentrations were variable ranging from 0.6 to 26.1 Bq/kg for (137)Cs and 0.02-0.52 Bq/kg for (239+240)Pu. Radionuclides in creek sediment samples were an order of magnitude lower than in soils. (137)Cs and (239+240)Pu activity concentration in soils were well correlated (r(2) = 0.80) although some deviation was observed in samples collected at higher elevations. Soil ratios of (137)Cs/(239+240)Pu (decay corrected to 1/1/2014) ranged from 11.5 to 52.1 (average = 37.0 ± 12.4) and showed more variability than previous studies. (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios ranged from 0.117 to 0.165 with an average of 0.146 (±0.013) and an error weighted mean of 0.138 (±0.001). These ratios are lower than a previously reported ratio for Sydney, and lower than the global average. However, these ratios are similar to those reported for other sites within Australia that are located away from former weapons testing sites and indicate that atom ratio measurements from other parts of the world are unlikely to be applicable to the Australian context.

Identification of sources and processes in a low-level radioactive waste site adjacent to landfills: groundwater hydrogeochemistry and isotopes

Multiple tracer-element and isotope approaches were applied at a 1960s-era low-level radioactive waste burial site located in the Lucas Heights area on the southwest urban fringe of Sydney, Australia. The site is situated among other municipal and industrial (solid and liquid) waste disposal sites causing potential mixing of leachates. Local rainfall contains marine-derived major ion ratios that are modified during infiltration depending on waste interactions. The local geology favours the retention of contaminants by ion-exchange processes within the clay-rich soils and the shale layer underlying the burial site. Local soils experience periodic infiltration and wetting fronts that can fully saturate the waste trenches (bathtub effect) while surrounding soils are mostly unsaturated with discontinuous perched lenses. Within the trenches, the degradation of organic matter results in localised methanogenesis, as suggested by enriched δ2H and δ13CDIC values in adjacent subsurface water. Movement of contaminants from the trenches is indicated by Na+, Br− and I− concentrations, variations in 87Sr/86Sr, enriched δ13CDIC values and evolution of δ34S of dissolved sulfate in perched water bodies above the shale. Although transport is limited by the low transmissivity of the clay-rich soils, migration and mixing processes are indicated by the variation of concentrations with distance from the trenches, disappearance of δ2H enrichments, mixing with other sources of Sr and sulfate isotope fractionations. The depth distribution of waste-derived contaminants (specifically 3H and Be) between the perched water surrounding the trenches, and the underlying shale and sandstone layers, indicates limited downward transport of contaminants. Past removal of the shale layer in an adjacent site, Harringtons Quarry, has facilitated the mixing of some municipal waste leachates (characterised by circum-neutral pH, high alkalinity, low sulfate, high 3H, high Be, enriched δ2H and δ13CDIC) into the underlying groundwater system as suggested by high TDS, Cl−/Br− ratios, Be and 3H found in deeper wells. This study demonstrates the applicability of using trace elements, stable- and radio-isotopes to document the existing geochemistry and the contaminant transport from the waste trenches. The multiple tracer approach addresses the complexities of transport at the site and differentiates various municipal, industrial and radioactive waste sources.