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Global Inventory and Distribution of Fallout Plutonium

Abstract

PLUTONIUM isotopes, Pu-239,240 and Pu-238 in particular, have been injected into the stratosphere as a result of atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, and have reached the ground as particulate fallout. An accidental stratospheric injection of Pu-238 in 1964 resulted in almost a three-fold increase in the global fallout of this isotope, and we now describe the accumulated fallout and geographical distribution from this unexpected release as well as from weapons testing.

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HARDY, E., KREY, P. & VOLCHOK, H. Global Inventory and Distribution of Fallout Plutonium. Nature 241, 444–445 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/241444a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/241444a0

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