Trace Element Levels in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments Near the Nigeria Research Reactor

I. O. B. Ewa
M. O. A. Oladipo
I. M. Umar

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DOI: 10.2190/ES.32.1.c

Abstract

Soils and river sediments sampled around the vicinity of the Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1) were investigated for their physical properties, morphology, and trace element levels as part of a the reactor pre-operational environmental monitoring campaign. Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), was chosen as the analytical technique of interest via the k₀-Standardization method. We identified Fe, Zn, Co, Na, K, Rb, Sc, Cs, Sb, Br, Ba, La, Hf, W, Yb, Cr, U, Th, Lu, Ce, Nd, Ta, and Tb as elements at different concentrations in both matrices. Gold and Zirconium foils were used as the single comparator and thermal neutron flux monitor respectively during the reactor irradiations. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Soil-7 was used for the quality control of the measurements to ensure precision of the analytical process, which was found to be better than 5% within the confidence interval specified for each of the elements.

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