Measurements of the Specific Activities of 137Cs in Antarctica Environmental Samples by Using the Low-Level Radiation Analysis Method

Abstract

© 2020, The Korean Physical Society. Since the King Sejong Korean Antarctic Research Station began operation in 1988, studies of various fields have been then carried out in polar regions and significant achievements have been yielded. However, environmental and biological radiations have not been dealt with compared to other research areas. In this study, the 137Cs distribution is investigated for environmental elements in the vicinity of the two research stations, the Jang Bogo Station and the King Sejong Station, operated by the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) in Antarctica by using a low-level radiation analysis method. Three different types of environmental samples, soils, mosses, and lichens are investigated for identification of 137Cs. In order to discriminate low levels of radiations from background radiations and estimate their specific activities with high reliability and precision, we used a heavily shielded HPGe detector in an underground laboratory to perform the activity measurements. GEANT4 simulations were carried out for efficiency calibrations corresponding to the shape of the pre-processed sample. 137Cs has been identified in all the samples and the energy spectrum has been found to reflect their physical and ecological characteristics