title: High (36)Cl/Cl ratios in Chernobyl groundwater.
abstract: After the explosion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in April 1986, contaminated material was buried in shallow trenches within the exclusion zone. A (90)Sr plume was evidenced downgradient of one of these trenches, trench T22. Due to its conservative properties, (36)Cl is investigated here as a potential tracer to determine the maximal extent of the contamination plume from the trench in groundwater. (36)Cl/Cl ratios measured in groundwater, trench soil water and leaf leachates are 1-5 orders of magnitude higher than the theoretical natural (36)Cl/Cl ratio. This contamination occurred after the Chernobyl explosion and currently persists. Trench T22 acts as an obvious modern point source of (36)Cl, however other sources have to be involved to explain such contamination. (36)Cl contamination of groundwater can be explained by dilution of trench soil water by uncontaminated water (rainwater or deep groundwater). With a plume extending further than that of (90)Sr, radionuclide which is impacted by retention and decay processes, (36)Cl can be considered as a suitable tracer of contamination from the trench in groundwater provided that modern release processes of (36)Cl from trench soil are better characterized.
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS-IRD-Collège de France, UM 34 CEREGE, Technopôle de l'Environnement Arbois-Méditerranée, BP80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France; Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, PRP-DGE/SRTG, BP 17, F-92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. Electronic address: celine_roux@live.fr.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roux
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS-IRD-Collège de France, UM 34 CEREGE, Technopôle de l'Environnement Arbois-Méditerranée, BP80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France; Université de Nîmes, Laboratoire de Géochimie Isotopique (GIS), 150 rue George Besse, 30035 Nîmes, France. Electronic address: corinne.legallasalle@unimes.fr.
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le Gal La Salle
authors.affiliation: Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, PRP-DGE/SRTG, BP 17, F-92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. Electronic address: caroline.simonucci@irsn.fr.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simonucci
authors.affiliation: Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, PRP-DGE/SRTG, BP 17, F-92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. Electronic address: nathalie.vanmeir@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Meir
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia. Electronic address: Keith.Fifield@anu.edu.au.
authors.forename: L Keith
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Fifield
authors.affiliation: Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, PRP-DGE/SRTG, BP 17, F-92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. Electronic address: Olivier.DIEZ@irsn.fr.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Diez
authors.affiliation: Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, PRP-DGE/SRTG, BP 17, F-92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. Electronic address: Sylvain.BASSOT@irsn.fr.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bassot
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Hydrologie d'Avignon, UMR EMMAH 11144 INRA, Université d'Avignon, 84000 Avignon, France. Electronic address: roland.simler@univ-avignon.fr.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geological Sciences, 55-b, Gonchara Str., Kiev 01054, Ukraine. Electronic address: dmitri.bugay@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bugai
authors.affiliation: Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology, UIAR NUBiP of Ukraine, Mashinobudivnykiv str. 7, Chabany, Kyiv-Svjatoshin, Ukraine. Electronic address: vak@uiar.kiev.ua.
authors.forename: Valery
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kashparov
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS-IRD-Collège de France, UM 34 CEREGE, Technopôle de l'Environnement Arbois-Méditerranée, BP80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France; Université de Nîmes, Laboratoire de Géochimie Isotopique (GIS), 150 rue George Besse, 30035 Nîmes, France. Electronic address: joel.lancelot@unimes.fr.
authors.forename: Joël
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lancelot
mesh_terms: D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D002713:Chlorine / Q000032:analysis*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D014455:Ukraine; D014872:Water Movements; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive; D002713:Chlorine
keywords: Chernobyl; Chlore-36; Groundwater contamination; Strontium-90