Plutonium isotopes and radionuclides in corals around Weizhou land in Beibu Gulf, China.

Plutonium isotopes in the coral were determined with chemical separation method using AG 1-X8 and AG-MP-1M anion exchange resins and sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) in order to elucidate the activity concentration and source of Pu around Weizhou land in Beibu Gulf, China. Furthermore, the activity concentrations of other radionuclides (238U, 226Ra, 232Th, 137Cs, 40K and 210Pb) were measured by a HPGe spectrometer. The activity concentration of 240+239Pu in the coral is determined to be in the range of 8.95-27.84 mBq/kg. The 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios in the samples range from 0.173 to 0.225, indicating that the main source of plutonium in this area is global fallout while the contribution of PPG is about 30%. Further, the activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, 40K and 226Ra are determined to be in the range of 18.72-64.63, 1.37-20.8, 29.78-72.52 and 3.48-61.97 Bq/kg, respectively.