233U/236U signature allows to distinguish environmental emissions of civil nuclear industry from weapons fallout

The dominant emission sources of anthropogenic radionuclides come from either atmospheric nuclear weapons tests or the nuclear industry (i.e., reprocessing plants or reactor accidents). Here, the authors identify a new environmental isotope tracer ($$^{233}$$ 233 U/$$^{236}$$ 236 U) which can help d...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: K. Hain, P. Steier, M. B. Froehlich, R. Golser, X. Hou, J. Lachner, T. Nomura, J. Qiao, F. Quinto, A. Sakaguchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2020-03-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15008-2
Description
Summary:The dominant emission sources of anthropogenic radionuclides come from either atmospheric nuclear weapons tests or the nuclear industry (i.e., reprocessing plants or reactor accidents). Here, the authors identify a new environmental isotope tracer ($$^{233}$$ 233 U/$$^{236}$$ 236 U) which can help distinguish emissions from nuclear weapons tests, and can also provide constraints on past weapon designs and fuel sources, for which many details remain classified or lost.
ISSN:2041-1723