Radioactivity in environmental samples taken in the Sellafield, Ravenglass and Morecambe Bay areas of west Cumbria

E. J.C. Curtis*, D. S. Popplewell, G. J. Ham

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    9 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Seaborne sediments deposited in the estuaries of the Esk, Duddon, Leven and Kent have been analysed for fission products and actinides discharged in waste from the Sellafield processing works in west Cumbria, and the values compared with the generally expected values due to fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. Analyses of tissues from sheep grazing the marshes of these estuaries show that the internal radiation dose of the general public through eating mutton or liver from these animals would be at most a few percent of recommended limits. Analytical data are presented on the actinide content of beef cattle, and on potato crops grown under field conditions; these data show that, as with the sheep data, the radiation dose to the consumer would be small.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)211-231
    Number of pages21
    JournalScience of the Total Environment, The
    Volume105
    Issue numberC
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jun 1991

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