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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films
Published on: November 9, 2015
Plutonium, 137Cs and uranium isotopes in Mongolian surface soils
K Hirose1, Y Kikawada1, Y Igarashi2
1Department of Material and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University, 7-1 Kioi-cho, Ciyoda-Ku, Tokyo 102-8554, Japan.
Abstract:
Plutonium (238Pu and 239,240Pu), 137Cs and plutonium activity ratios (238Pu/239,240Pu) as did uranium isotope ratio (235U/238U) were measured in surface soil samples collected in southeast Mongolia. The 239,240Pu and 137Cs concentrations in Mongolian surface soils (<53 μm of particle size) ranged from 0.42 ± 0.03 to 3.53 ± 0.09 mBq g-1 and from 11.6 ± 0.7 to 102 ± 1 mBq g-1, respectively. The 238Pu/239,240Pu activity ratios in the surface soils (0.013-0.06) coincided with that of global fallout. The 235U/238U atom ratios in the surface soil show the natural one. There was a good correlation between the 239,240Pu and 137Cs concentrations in the surface soils. We introduce the migration depth to have better understanding of migration behaviors of anthropogenic radionuclides in surface soil. We found a difference of the migration behavior between 239,240Pu and 137Cs from 137Cs/239,240Pu - 137Cs plots for the Mongolian and Tsukuba surface soils; plutonium in surface soil is migrated easier than 137Cs.
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