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Study of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in inter tidal sediments of Kalpakkam coast

V.Santhanakrishnan, Anitha Manu, S.Ramkumar, S.Venkataraman, A.G.Hegde

The concentration of the anthropogenic radionuclides 137Cs, 90Sr and 239+240Pu and natural radionuclides 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K were estimated in the inter tidal sediments of Kalpakkam coast. 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K concentrations were in the rangeï‚£2.0 to 18 Bq/kg dry, ï‚£4 to 134 Bq/kg dry and 315-582 Bq/ kg dry respectively. The higher concentration of 228Ra in the sediments was due to presence of monazite which contains 9.6% of 232Th. The 137Cs and 90Sr levels were below detectable levels. 239+240Pu concentration in the inter tidal sedimentswere in the range fromï‚£0.007 to 0.1 Bq/kg dry. The 239+240Pu concentration in the inter tidal sediments were low and are comparable to global fallout levels. The study showed that the accumulation of anthropogenic radionuclides in the inter tidal sediments of Kalpakkamis negligible.