First measurements of chlorine 36 (Cl) wet deposition fluxes in the vicinity of Orano La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant in France.

Chlorine 36 (Cl) is a radionuclide of natural and anthropogenic origin, mainly used as a tracer in geochemical studies. Owing to analytical constraints and its low environmental levels, knowledge of Cl behavior in the environment is still very limited. In this study, we use environmental measurements to report for the first time the wet deposition fluxes of Cl downwind an anthropogenic source, the Orano nuclear reprocessing plant, which chronically emits Cl into the environment.

Metal particle seeding on urban surface samples.

In order to estimate the resuspension of the particles empirically, it is necessary to carry out a homogeneous distribution of the particles on the tested surfaces. Thus, in many studies, seeding or deposition in experimental chambers is performed to quantify initial concentrations for subsequent resuspension experiments. The current study was carried out to assess metal particle seeding efficiency on four types of urban surfaces (slate, facade coating, tile, and glass) in a test chamber.

Experimental measurements of the bacterial oxidation of HT in soils: Impact over a zone influenced by an industrial release of tritium in HT form.

Tritium is a radionuclide released to the atmosphere by nuclear industries in various forms, mainly HTO and to a lesser extent HT. However, some nuclear sites may emit predominantly HT in the atmosphere. The HT is oxidized to HTO essentially in the top cm of soils, and that the formed HTO is then possibly released into the atmosphere.

Measurement and modelling of gaseous elemental iodine (I) dry deposition velocity on grass in the environment.

Assessing the impact of radioactive iodine on humans subsequent to a nuclear accident requires a better understanding of its behaviour in the environment. An original approach aimed at developing a model constrained by data collected during experimental campaigns has been developed. These experimental campaigns, named MIOSEC 2 and MIOSEC 3 respectively, were conducted in the middle of grassland.

Tritium in precipitation on 5 sites in North-West France during the 2017-2019 period.

Between October 2017 and May 2019, measurements of tritium in rainwater were carried out at several sites in north-west France. Tritium is an important tracer for hydroclimatic studies and this work provided up-to-date data that we compared with Global Network for Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) measurements. Of the various sites studied, some could potentially be affected by atmospheric gaseous emissions from the nuclear industries in the region (reprocessing plant, nuclear power plant).