title: 129I in the environment of the La Hague nuclear fuel reprocessing plant--from sea to land.
abstract: In recent years, particular attention was paid to the long-lived radionuclides discharged with authorized low-level radioactive liquid and gaseous effluents by the nuclear spent fuel reprocessing plants of La Hague and Sellafield. The knowledge of (129)I (half-life=15.7 x 10(6) a) distribution in the environment is required to assess the radiological impact to the environment and population living in the area under the direct influence of La Hague NRP discharges. Measurement difficulties of (129)I in environmental matrices, where it is usually present at trace level, limited data published on (129)I activity levels in the European and more particularly in the French territory. Studies conducted to qualify a new alternative measurement method, direct gamma-X spectrometry with experimental self-absorption correction, led to test samples collected in the La Hague marine and terrestrial environment : seaweeds, lichens, grass, bovine thyroids, etc. All these results, often already published separately for analytical purposes and treated for intercomparison exercises, are presented here together in a radioecological manner. The levels of (129)I activity and (129)I/(127)I ratios in these samples show the spatial and temporal influence of the La Hague NRP in its local near-field environment as well as at the regional scale along the French Channel coast.
authors.affiliation: CEA/DEN/DPC/SECR/LANIE, CE Saclay, Bât. 459, F-91191Gif sur Yvette, France . frechou@cea.fr
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fréchou
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Calmet
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D020387:Food Chain; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D008011:Lichens / Q000737:chemistry; D009426:Netherlands; D006109:Poaceae / Q000737:chemistry; D011210:Power Plants; D011850:Radioactive Waste; D012624:Seaweed / Q000737:chemistry; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000737:chemistry; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D011850:Radioactive Waste; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive