Concentrations of thorium and uranium in freshwater samples collected in the former USSR

Authors : K. Shiraishi, Y. Igarashi, M. Yamamoto, T. Nakajima, I. P. Los, A. V. Zelensky, M. Z. Buzinny

DOI : 10.1007/bf02042962

Volume : 185

Issue : 1

Year : 1994

Page No : 157-165

Approximately 100 freshwater samples were collected in Ukraine, Russia, and Belorussia with regard to the Chernobyl accident. Thorium and uranium were determined by both quantitative and semiquantitative analysis modes of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Thorium-232 was detected in only a few samples. Uranium concentrations ranged from non-detectable to 1,000ng/ml. Mean and median concentrations of238U were found to be 30.7±139 and 0.7 ng/ml, respectively. The isotope ratio of234U/238U ranged from 4.6·10−5 to 4.4·10−4. Mean ratio of235U/238U was 0.00721±0.00006 (n=27).


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