Fractionation Phenomena in Activity from an Underground Nuclear Explosion

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Abstract
Debris likely to have come from the underground nuclear explosion in the Semipalatinsk area on December 18, 1966 was found in ground level air and precipitation samples, mainly in the northern part of Sweden, between December 22 and December 30. An examination of trajectories, verifying the fallout picture, has been carried out. Gamma-spectrometric and radiochemical examinations show that the debris was enriched in strontium-89, strontium-90, cesium-137 and barium(-lanthanum)-140 with respect to mixed fission products. All these nuclides have noble gases as precursors in their decay chains. Venting conditions are discussed leading to the conclusion that a small release occurred after a time depending on the fission mode used, in all cases within the first minute after the explosion.

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