Exploration of the potential application of plutonium isotopes in source identification of sandstorm in the atmosphere of Beijing

摘要

Plutonium(Pu)is an anthropogenic radionuclide which mainly derived from atmospheric nuclear tests in the environment.In this study,the Pu isotopes(^(239)Pu and^(240)Pu)in aerosol samples collected during the sandstorm and non-sandstorm period were measured by accelerator mass spectrometry(AMS)and the behavior of Pu was studied.The activity concentrations of ^(239)Pu and ^(240)Pu in the aerosol samples of Beijing were ranged from 0.62 nB q/m^(3)to 99.6 n Bq/m^(3)for ^(239)Pu and 3.51 nBq/m^(3)to 60.23 n Bq/m^(3)for ^(240)Pu,respectively.^(239)Pu and ^(240)Pu concentrations exhibited a remarkable seasonal variation trend,with the higher results showed in spring,and the relatively lower concentrations in winter.The observed higher concentration of^(239)Pu and^(240)Pu detected in sandstorm samples further indicated Pu was closely related to the occurrence of sandstorms.The global fallout characteristics of^(240)Pu/^(239)Pu atom ratios(average0.20,ranging from 0.16 to 0.27)in aerosol samples indicating that global fallout was the major source of Pu in the atmosphere.Using aluminum(Al)as an indicator of soil resuspension,significant positive correlation between^(239)Pu and Al(r^(2)=0.934),240Pu and Al(^(r)2=0.525)revealed that soil resuspension was a primary source of atmospheric Pu in Beijing.These results implied that the combination of^(239)Pu,^(240)Pu and Al could be used as the potential tracer of sandstorm.