Global transport rates and future prediction of hazardous materials: Pu and Cs – from Nagasaki to Canadian Arctic

Abstract

A historical man-made global pollution of hazardous materials occurred at Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945 detonation of a plutonium (10–15 kg) atomic bomb. Recent advancements in analytical technology made it possible for artificial radionuclides released from the nuclear explosion to be detected in the Arctic ice core layer of 1945. The fission product, 137Cs (23.4 g or 7.44×1013 Bq), and unexpended fission material, 239+240Pu (8.8–13.8 kg or 2.22–3.49×1013 Bq), originating from the Nagasaki A-bomb were measured by collecting 10 ice cores on the Agassiz ice cap, Ellesmere Island, Canada. The deposition rates were 20 mBq/cm2 for 137Cs and 0.16 mBq/cm2 for 239+240Pu, originating from Nagasaki. Assuming the radionuclides, excluding the amount deposited as local fallout, are deposited evenly throughout the northern hemisphere, a rate of 67% of the expected amount of 137Cs arrived at the Arctic while 1.1% of 239+240Pu reached the Arctic. The results suggest that different transport mechanisms exist for these two hazardous contaminants in the global transport system. A non-reactive rare gas, such as neon and argon, can spread evenly throughout northern hemisphere, including Ellesmere island at the Canadian Arctic, while a reactive gas, sulfur dioxide (SO2) will not reach the ice cap. The measured global transport rates of 137Cs and 239+240Pu were 67% and 1.1%, respectively. These measured rates were for the historical man-made hazardous materials and probably obtained for the longest distance of global transport over 10,000 km. Assuming there was a consistency in climate for the next 10,000 years, the chronological anthropogenic deposits, mainly of 239+240Pu, could be detected in the ice layer between 97–98 m from the snow surface at 11,999 AD on the Agassiz ice cap. Even if there were no improvements in the radioactive analytical method used, the ice layers for the 1945–1980 period could still be easily identified with the present analytical technology. Hopefully this study will find a way to use our generation's artefacts for the benefit of our future descendants.