HEИндивидуална стипендия2023–2025

CHRONUS · CHernobyl's Radioactive pattern in Oceanography: Nuclear fingerprints Unraveled through accelerator mass Spectrometry

„Хоризонт Европа“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2023-07-01 → 2025-06-30
Финансиране от ЕС: 181 153 €
Участници: 1
Схема: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Радиоактивните елементи в Балтийско море, като тези от аварията в Чернобил, се проследяват чрез анализ на седименти. Това помага да се разберат източниците на замърсяване и начинът, по който опасните частици се разпространяват в морската среда.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

CHernobyl's Radioactive pattern in Oceanography: Nuclear fingerprints Unraveled through accelerator mass Spectrometry

The CHRONUS project was conceived to address critical knowledge gaps regarding the distribution and origin of anthropogenic actinides in the Baltic Sea, one of the most radioactively contaminated marine environments worldwide. This contamination results from multiple sources at global, regional, and local levels, including atmospheric nuclear test fallout, the Chernobyl accident, and authorized discharges from nuclear installations, among others. Understanding the different inputs and distribution patterns of actinides represents a major challenge that can only be addressed by studying multiple radionuclides and including the most-minor isotopes, which can only be analysed using the ultra-sensitive Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technique. The project pursued three main objectives: i) the optimisation of sample preparation and measurement techniques, ii) the generation of a comprehensive dataset of actinides in the Baltic Sea, and iii) the interpretation of contamination patterns and assessment of the contamination sources. Sediment cores collected from stations covering the whole Baltic Sea have been studied to pursue those objectives. The development of the techniques and the analysis of the different radionuclides have been conducted by using the 1 MV AMS system at the Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA, Spain), an international centre for accelerator science and technology in which the host institution, the University of Seville (USE, Spain), participates. During the project, in response to emerging analytical opportunities, the original set of target radionuclides (233U, 236U, 237Np, 239Pu, 240Pu, 241Pu, 242Pu, 244Pu) was expanded to include americium and curium isotopes (241Am, 243Am, 244Cm, 245Cm and 246Cm). The CHRONUS project provides novel analytical tools for environmental radioactivity studies, supports more accurate contamination source attribution, and lays the groundwork for extending these approaches to other marine environments and AMS facilities worldwide. By generating high-quality data and advancing analytical techniques, this project aims to contribute to better scientific understanding and more informed environmental monitoring and policymaking in the context of radioactive contamination.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

The CHRONUS project aims at providing new insights into the distribution of a complete set of anthropogenic actinides (233U, 236U, 237Np, 239Pu, 240Pu, 241Pu, 242Pu, 244Pu) in the Baltic Sea using the ultra-sensitive Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technique, representing a needful step forward in the field of Applied Nuclear Physics to address environmental problems. The Baltic Sea is one of the most contaminated marine environments in the world regarding radioactive materials, being exposed by multiple contamination sources in such a way that understanding the different inputs and distribution patterns of the radioactive contaminants has become a major challenge. Specifically, there are still many open questions regarding the distribution of the actinide fallout from the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Understanding the distribution of radionuclides in this marine environment may be crucial for many environmental applications as well as future radioactivity emergencies. This action would include the analysis of the extremely low abundance 233U and 244Pu, providing novel tools to identify local contamination inputs from the baseline radioactivity levels imposed by the atmospheric nuclear weapon tests (1945-1980). Sediment cores collected from stations covering the whole Baltic Sea will be used to this end. Novel sample preparation and AMS measurement techniques will be developed to perform all those analyses using the compact 1MV AMS system at the Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA), an international centre for accelerator science and technology of the host institution (University of Seville, USE, Spain). This action will involve the integration of the researcher, Dr. Mercedes López-Lora, at the Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics (FAMN) and within the very active and multidisciplinary group of Applied Nuclear Physics (GFNA) at the USE, under the supervision of Dr. Elena Chamizo, a high-recognised expert in AMS techniques and applications.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA · SevillaКоординаторИспания