Iisa Outola - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Iisa Outola

ACS Symposium Series, 2003

Science of The Total Environment, 2006

Weekly air samples of 25000 m(3) volume were taken with two air samplers over a period of one yea... more Weekly air samples of 25000 m(3) volume were taken with two air samplers over a period of one year in 2000-2001 in the town of Kurchatov in Kazakhstan. For another three-month period in 2001, the samplers were run in the city of Astana, about 500 km west of Kurchatov. (137)Cs, Pu and U concentrations were determined from the filters. Pu activities in Kurchatov varied in a 100-fold range; median (239,240)Pu activities were 100 nBq/m(3) and (238)Pu activities 34 nBq/m(3). The corresponding values for Astana were considerably lower: 29 and 9 nBq/m(3), respectively, and in half of the filters the (238)Pu activity was below the detection limit. Plutonium concentration correlated with the amount of dust retained on the filters only at the highest dust loads. Also no correlation between wind speed and the plutonium activity in the filters was observed. Thus, resuspension does not seem to be the mechanism responsible for the airborne plutonium. No clear seasonal variation of Pu air concentration was observed, though levels were somewhat elevated in February to April. There was no correlation between the plutonium and (137)Cs concentrations. In most of the filters the cesium concentration was below the detection limit, but in those filters where it could be detected the cesium concentration was practically constant at 3.9+/-1.6 microBq/m(3). Dose estimation for the inhalation of the airborne plutonium gave a low value of 0.018 microSv/a for the inhabitants in Kurchatov, which is about a thousand times lower than the dose caused by the naturally occurring (210)Po. Air parcel trajectory analysis indicated that the observed Pu activities in the air could not unambiguously be attributed to the most contaminated areas at the Semipalatinsk Test Site.

Science of The Total Environment, 2003

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of industrial pollution on the distributio... more The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of industrial pollution on the distribution of radiocaesium in soil and on its transfer from soil to plants. The study was started in September 2000 in four Scots pine stands located at distances of 0.5, 2, 4 and 8 km along a transect running SE from the Cu-Ni smelter at Harjavalta in SW Finland. Annual emissions from the smelter in 1990 were 80 t of Cu, 31 t of Ni and 9000 t of SO , and in 1999 these were 2 5.9, 0.8 and 3400 t, respectively. At each site, soil profiles were sampled with a corer, and samples were separated into litter (L), organic soil layer (O) and mineral soil layers (B, E). Mushrooms, lichens (Cladina spp. and Cetraria islandica), lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) and crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) plants were collected at each site, except at a distance of 0.5 km, where only mushrooms were available. In the organic soil layer, Cs activity

Radiochimica Acta, 2004

SummaryA method was developed to determine activities and isotope ratios of plutonium and uranium... more SummaryA method was developed to determine activities and isotope ratios of plutonium and uranium. The method includes dry and wet ashing of air filters and separation of plutonium and uranium from each other and from other nuclides on EichromA field trial was performed in Kurchatov, Kazakhstan, to test the aerosol sampling and radiochemical methods developed for plutonium and uranium. In the air samples collected, the activity of

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 2008

ABSTRACT

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 2005

Summary 137Cs concentrations in seawater collected in 2002 and archived samples collected in 195... more Summary 137Cs concentrations in seawater collected in 2002 and archived samples collected in 1957 were determined by using an AMP precipitation method and &ggr; -spectrometry. 137Cs concentrations in the present water columns (>0.2 Bq . m-3) were determined using sample volumes of around 10 liters by the AMP precipitation method and ground-level &ggr;-spectrometry at the Meteorological Research Institute (MRI). Equipment at the Ogoya Underground Laboratory (OUL) is able to achieve very low radioactivity measurements. As a result, we were able to measure 137Cs concentrations in deep waters (100-1500 m) in 1957, of about 1 Bq . m-3 from a small volume (250 ml) of the archived samples. The high sensitive 137Cs measurements allow effectively using 137Cs as a tracer of water motion in the ocean.

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2005

Effects of industrial pollution on the behaviour of radionuclides in spruce forest ecosystems wer... more Effects of industrial pollution on the behaviour of radionuclides in spruce forest ecosystems were studied along a gradient from of a copperenickel smelter in Monchegorsk, NW Russia. A reference site was situated in Lapland, Finland, 152 km west of Monchegorsk. Most of the total 137 Cs activity in soil was in mineral (E and B) horizons, except at the reference site where the major part was still in the organic surface layer. Most of the total 90 Sr activity still remaining in the soil profile was found in the surface layer, but the relative amount decreased with increasing level of industrial pollution. Pollutants from the smelter clearly affected the chemical speciation of radionuclides. Smaller amounts of exchangeable radionuclides were present in the organic surface layer at the most polluted sites. The decline of 137 Cs with decreasing distance from the smelter correlated strongly with a similar depletion in exchangeable K and Mg. Total concentrations of 137 Cs and 90 Sr showed high correlations with exchangeable cations, particularly in the E and upper B horizon. A sudden change in

Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 2007

A new radioactivity solution standard of 210 Pb has been developed and will be disseminated by th... more A new radioactivity solution standard of 210 Pb has been developed and will be disseminated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as standard reference material (SRM) 4337. This new 210 Pb solution standard is contained in a 5 mL flame-sealed borosilicate glass ampoule, consists of (5.13370.002) g of a nominal 1 mol L À1 nitric acid solution, has a density of (1.02870.002) g mL À1 at 20 1C, has carrier ion concentrations of about 11 mg Pb 2+ and 21 mg Bi 3+ per gram of solution, and is certified to contain a massic activity (9.03770.22) kBq g À1 as of the reference time 1200 EST, 15 June 2006. All of the uncertainties cited above correspond to standard uncertainties multiplied by a coverage factor k ¼ 2. The standardization for the 210 Pb content of the solution was based on 4pab liquid scintillation (LS) measurements using CIEMAT/NIST 3 H-standard efficiency tracing (CNET). Confirmatory determinations were also performed by high-resolution HPGe gray spectrometry, by 2pa spectrometry with a Si surface barrier detector of separated 210 Po, and by 4pb(LS)-g(NaI) anticoincidence counting.

Beresford, Nicholas A.; Copplestone, David; Hosseini, A.; Brown, Justin E; Johansen, Matthew P.; ... more Beresford, Nicholas A.; Copplestone, David; Hosseini, A.; Brown, Justin E; Johansen, Matthew P.; Hirth, Gillian; Sheppard, Steve; Dagher, Elias; Yankovich, Tamara; Uchida, Shigeo; Napier, Jon; Outola, Iisa; Wells, Claire; Howard, Brenda J.; Barnett, Catherine L.; Wood, Michael D. 2014. Recent development of wildlife transfer databases. [Poster] In: 3rd International Conference on Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity, Barcelona, 712 Sept 2014.

Within the current project a methodology for separating actinide particles originating from the T... more Within the current project a methodology for separating actinide particles originating from the Thule 1968 accident has been developed. Particles were completely isolated in water using visual and radiometric methods. The particles were attached electrostatic to a plastic support and could easily be moved to any container for leaching studies or other type of studies. Leaching and dissolution studies performed within the project indicate that some particles are relatively easily destroyed or leached while others are more refractory. The results shows that even though the oxide particles are hard to completely dissolve they release material even when exposed to weak solvents like water and salt solutions. Exposures to lung simulant fluids show relatively slow dissolution rates comparable to what is found using only water. Sequential extraction of particles shows that variation between particles is very large; some dissolve easily while some does not. Of radiological importance is the...

Information included in this publication or extracts thereof are free for citation on the conditi... more Information included in this publication or extracts thereof are free for citation on the condition that the complete reference of the publication is given as stated above Copyright 2013 by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission-Helsinki Commission-Note: Figure 9.2 on page 39 has been corrected 1.9.2015.

The aim of the STAR (STrategy for Allied Radioecology) NoE was to facilitate the long term sustai... more The aim of the STAR (STrategy for Allied Radioecology) NoE was to facilitate the long term sustainable integration of European radioecological research, with an appropriate governance structure. This was done to ensure an efficient and effective integration of resources and capacities at a European level, and lead to the establishment of a European Research Area in the field of radioecology. The STAR NoE created tools to facilitate integration and contributed to the establishment of mechanisms for long term sustainability under the Radioecology ALLIANCE. The major achievements in joint programming and integration have been: [STAR] 7/41