Leaching of Radionuclides from Samples of Radioactive Slag from a Ground-Surface Nuclear Explosion on the Coast of the Chernaya Bay of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago

Abstract

Leaching of ¹³⁷Cs and ^239+240Pu radionuclides with distilled and seawater from samples of radioactive slag from a ground-surface nuclear explosion on the coast of the Chernaya Bay of the Yuzhnyi Island of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, the Central Test Site of the Russian Federation, was studied in a laboratory. The ¹³⁷Cs and ^239+240Pu leach rate is ≤(2.7–3.5) × 10⁻⁶ and (4.8 ± 0.3) × 10⁻⁹ g cm⁻² day⁻¹ in contact with distilled water and (0.74–5.0) × 10⁻⁶ and (1.0 ± 0.14) × 10⁻⁸ g cm⁻² day⁻¹ in contact with seawater, respectively.