Plutonium isotopes 238Pu, 239+240Pu, 241Pu and 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios in the southern Baltic Sea ecosystem

The paper summarizes the results of plutonium findings in atmospheric fallout samples and marine samples from the southern Baltic Sea during our research in 1986–2007. The activities of 238Pu and 239+240Pu isotopes were measured with an alpha spectrometer. The activities of 241Pu were calculated indirectly by 241Am activity measurements 16–18 years after the Chernobyl accident. The 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios were measured using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The 241Pu activities indicate that the main impact of the Chernobyl accident was on the plutonium concentration in the components of the Baltic Sea ecosystem examined in this work. The highest 241Pu/239+240Pu activity ratio was found in sea water (140 ± 33). The AMS measurements of atmospheric fallout samples collected during 1986 showed a significant increase in the 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratio from 0.29 ± 0.04 in March 1986 to 0.47 ± 0.02 in April 1986.