Radioactive uranium and cesium levels in Kuwait Bay seawater

Abstract

The development of a continuous radioisotope monitoring program has an extreme significance in maintaining the marine environment’s radiological safety. This study aimed to evaluate the radiological safety of locally sourced desalinated water and seafood. The establishment of baseline data for observing the nuclear activities already existing in the Gulf region was also targeted. While natural uranium radioisotopes are naturally occurring in the environment, there is a rising concern in Kuwait due to the depleted uranium (DU) presence after the Gulf War in 1991. The anthropogenic radionuclide (137Cs) serves as among the most important indicator of the radioactivity releases. The present work focused on determining the concentration of 137Cs and uranium isotopes in Kuwait Bay (KB) seawater. The concentrations of 137Cs were determined by the ammonium molybdenum phosphate (AMP) co-precipitation method followed by gamma spectrometry measurement, whereas a radiochemical separation using anion exchange chromatography and alpha spectrometry measurement was used for uranium isotope determination. The average concentration levels of 235U, (234U and 238U), and 137Cs were 2.3 mBq l−1 ± 0.4, 45.3 mBq l−1 ± 3.5, and 1.24 mBq l−1 ± 0.5, respectively, and these figures are comparable to those reported worldwide. The concluded isotopic ratio of 235U/238U and 234U/238U indicated that the existing uranium in seawater of KB is only natural and no indication of the DU. The produced radiological data are considered as a beneficial baseline for monitoring the regional marine environment.