Anthropogenic 14C marine geochemistry in the vicinity of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant

Abstract

The reprocessing plant at Sellafield in northwest England, discharges low-level waste via a pipeline into the eastern Irish Sea. Results demonstrate 14C activities in excess of the current ambient level in a range of both biotic and abiotic samples with evidence that a significant percentage of the discharges are in the form of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Results are discussed in terms of existing sediment chronologies and sedimentation rates. -from Authors