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Updated: May 20, 2026

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films
Published on: November 9, 2015
240Pu/239Pu mass ratio in environmental samples in Finland
S Salminen-Paatero1, U Nygren, J Paatero
1Laboratory of Radiochemistry, Department of Chemistry, P.O. Box 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. susanna.salminen-paatero@helsinki.fi
Abstract:
The (240)Pu/(239)Pu mass ratio was determined with SF-ICP-MS in lichen, peat, grass, air filter, and hot particle samples obtained in Finland. The main part of the air filters were sampled in northern Finland in 1963, whereas all the other samples were collected in southern and central Finland immediately after the Chernobyl accident in 1986. The (240)Pu/(239)Pu mass ratio varied between 0.13 ± 0.01 and 0.53 ± 0.03 in the environmental samples analyzed. The values for the (240)Pu/(239)Pu ratio confirm previous estimations, based on the (238)Pu/(239+240)Pu alpha activity ratio in the same samples, that global fallout from nuclear weapons testing and deposition from the Chernobyl accident have been the main Pu contamination sources in the environment in Finland.
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