Actual 129I concentration levels in the Lower Danube River and in the Black Sea

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Currently, several locations of the North Atlantic Ocean have the 129I concentration levels 104–105 times higher than those of the pre-nuclear era. As a consequence, the southeastern part of Europe, with its rivers and seawaters, should be influenced by the outspread through the atmospheric and hydrospheric transport of iodine-129. This is a long lived fission isotope and a “low beta emitter”. It can be used as long-term tracer for nuclear pollution if the concentration of 129I is known in the investigated geographical region. This AMS study has determined the 129I concentrations in the southeast part of Europe, from the Lower Danube River, the Danube Delta and the Black Sea. The 129I concentrations measured in the Black Sea were in the range of (1–1.4) × 108 atoms/L, which equals the range values of the North Atlantic Ocean at latitudes (31°–50°N) of (0.4–1.3) × 108 atoms/L. For the Danube Delta, the measured concentration values were very close to those of the Black Sea, due to the small inflow from the sea. For the region of the Lower Danube, 129I concentrations were (4.1–7.4) × 107 atoms/L. The averaged results of 129I measurements provided the actual baseline of (1.2 ± 0.1) × 108 atoms/L valid for the Danube Delta and the Black Sea region and of (6.4 ± 0.1) × 107 atoms/L for the Lower Danube.