Dataset Information

Discovery of fissionogenic Cs and Ba capture five years after Oklo reactor shutdown.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the release and sequestration of specific radioactive signatures into the environment is of extreme importance for long-term nuclear waste storage and reactor accident mitigation. Recent accidents at the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear reactors released radioactive ¹³⁷Cs and ¹³⁴Cs into the environment, the former of which is still live today. We have studied the migration of fission products in the Oklo natural nuclear reactor using an isotope imaging capability, the NAval Ultra-Trace Isotope Laboratory's Universal Spectrometer (NAUTILUS) at the US Naval Research Laboratory. In Oklo reactor zone (RZ) 13, we have identified the most depleted natural U of any known material with a ²³⁵U/²³⁸U ratio of 0.3655 ± 0.0007% (2?). This sample contains the most extreme natural burnup in ¹⁴⁹Sm, ¹⁵¹Eu, ¹⁵⁵Gd, and ¹⁵⁷Gd, which demonstrates that it was sourced from the most active Oklo reactor region. We have discovered that fissionogenic Cs and Ba were captured by Ru metal/sulfide aggregates shortly following reactor shutdown. Isochrons from the Ru aggregates place their closure time at 4.98 ± 0.56 y after the end of criticality. Most fissionogenic ¹³⁵Ba and ¹³⁷Ba in the Ru migrated and was incorporated as Cs over this period. Excesses in ¹³⁴Ba in the Ru point to the burnup of ¹³³Cs. Cesium and Ba were retained in the Ru despite local volcanic activity since the reactor shutdown and the high level of activity during reactor operation.

SUBMITTER: Groopman EE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6126757 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Discovery of fissionogenic Cs and Ba capture five years after Oklo reactor shutdown.

Groopman Evan E EE Willingham David G DG Meshik Alex P AP Pravdivtseva Olga V OV

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20180813 35

Understanding the release and sequestration of specific radioactive signatures into the environment is of extreme importance for long-term nuclear waste storage and reactor accident mitigation. Recent accidents at the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear reactors released radioactive <sup>137</sup>Cs and <sup>134</sup>Cs into the environment, the former of which is still live today. We have studied the migration of fission products in the Oklo natural nuclear reactor using an isotope imaging capabili ...[more]

PMID: 30104355

Similar Datasets

Project description:Although the focus in the area of health research may be shifting from infectious to non-communicable diseases, the infectious diseases of poverty remain a major burden of disease of global health concern. A global platform to communicate and share the research on these diseases is needed to facilitate the translation of knowledge into effective approaches and tools for their elimination. Based on the "One health, One world" mission, a new, open-access journal, Infectious Diseases of Poverty (IDP), was launched by BioMed Central in partnership with the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (NIPD), Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) on October 25, 2012. Its aim is to identify and assess research and information gaps that hinder progress towards new interventions for a particular public health problem in the developing world. From the inaugural IDP issue of October 25, 2012, a total of 256 manuscripts have been published over the following five years. Apart from a small number of editorials, opinions, commentaries and letters to the editor, the predominant types of publications are research articles (69.5%) and scoping reviews (21.5%). A total of 1 081 contributing authors divided between 323 affiliations across 68 countries, territories and regions produced these 256 publications. The journal is indexed in major international biomedical databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and Embase. In 2015, it was assigned its first impact factor (4.11), which is now 2.13. During the past five years, IDP has received manuscripts from 90 countries, territories and regions across six continents with an annual acceptance rate of all contributions maintained at less than 40%. Content analysis shows that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), followed by the "Big Three" (HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis) and infectious diseases in general comprise 88% of all publications. In addition, a series of 10 thematic issues, covering 118 publications in all, was published as separate parts of the first five volumes. These publications were cited 975 times, which equals an average of 8.3 times per publication. The current challenge is to identify cutting-edge research topics and attract and to publish first-rate publications leading to increasing importance and impact of the journal in its field.

Dataset Information

Discovery of fissionogenic Cs and Ba capture five years after Oklo reactor shutdown.

Publications

Discovery of fissionogenic Cs and Ba capture five years after Oklo reactor shutdown.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets