Concentrations of selected radionuclides and their spatial distribution in marine sediments from the northwestern Gulf, Kuwait

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.11.052

Marine Pollution Bulletin

Volume 127, February 2018, Pages 73-81

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.11.052 Get rights and content

Highlights

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The study reports baseline concentrations of radionuclides in marine sediments
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Knowledge of radioactivity concentrations in marine sediment is critical to assess contamination from Oil industry and NPPs
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²³⁵U/²³⁸U activity in the area suggests the absence of depleted uranium (DU) at the stations covered in this study
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^239 + 240Pu concentration suggests that there is no significant source of plutonium except the atmospheric fallout
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There is no significant change in levels of some of the radionuclides in past two decades.

Abstract

This study focuses on creating a baseline for ⁴⁰K, ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, ²³⁸U, ²³⁵U, ²³⁴U, ^239 + 240Pu and ²³⁸Pu in marine sediments in the northwestern Gulf. The respective measured concentration ranges were 386–489, 32.3–48.8, 1.5–2.9, 4.53–5.42, 18.3–23.1, 18.8–23.0, 22.3–30.5, 0.99–1.33, 25.6–34.8, 0.30–0.93, and 0.0008–0.00018 Bq kg^− 1. The levels of these radionuclides are generally comparable to values reported for other marine waters in the northern hemisphere. The ¹³⁷Cs activity in the Gulf sediments offshore Kuwait is an order of magnitude lower compared to sediments from northeastern Iran. Other than that finding, no hot spots were observed in sediments adjacent to power and desalination plants, oil and gas industrial activities or wastewater treatment facilities. These data will serve as a baseline to gauge possible future inputs of radionuclides in the northern Gulf. The calculated average ratio of ²³⁵U/²³⁸U activity in the area is in agreement with the reported figure of the natural uranium ratio, suggesting the absence of depleted uranium (DU) at all the stations. The low concentration of ^239 + 240Pu suggests that there is no significant source of plutonium except that from atmospheric fallout from weapon testing and possible dry deposition via long-range dust transport.

Section snippets

Results and discussion

The concentrations of all the radionuclides in the marine sediments are shown in Table 3. ⁴⁰K, ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, ²³⁸U, ²³⁵U, ²³⁴U, ^239 + 240Pu and ²³⁸Pu ranged between 386 and 489; 32.3–48.8; 1.5–2.9; 4.53–5.42; 18.3–23.1; 18.8–23.0; 22.3–30.5; 0.99–1.33; 25.6–34.8; 0.30–0.93; and 0.0008–0.00018 Bq kg^− 1, respectively. The measurements made are compared with measurements made elsewhere (Table 4).

It is of interest to compare our recent baseline measurements with those made earlier at

Conclusions

Despite the region being subjected to three wars and massive oil fires, the baseline data generated suggest that the levels of radionuclides in the sediments in the Kuwait marine environment are consistent with earlier observations from the area and comparable to other marine waters in the northern hemisphere.

Based on this study it can be concluded that there is no obvious contribution of radionuclides from likely sources including oil and gas industries, wastewater treatment plants and nuclear

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the reviewers for very pertinent suggestions and guidance for revision. Thanks are due to Dr. Samira A.S. Omar (Director General, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research) and Dr. Abdulnabi Al-Ghadban (Executive Director, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, KISR) for supporting project EM062C, and to the Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Sciences for partially funding project P214-44SP-01. Thanks are also due to International Atomic Energy Agency for supporting technical

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BaselineConcentrations of selected radionuclides and their spatial distribution in marine sediments from the northwestern Gulf, Kuwait

Highlights

Abstract

Section snippets

Results and discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

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Baseline
Concentrations of selected radionuclides and their spatial distribution in marine sediments from the northwestern Gulf, Kuwait