Cyclotron Analysis of Australian Atmospheric Contamination before and after the 1974 French Nuclear Tests in the Pacific

Abstract

Atmospheric particulates collected around East Coast Australian cities and Port Moresby, just before and after the French Atomic Test Series of 1974 in the Pacific, have been analysed by proton activation using the Melbourne University Cyclotron. A number of elements, namely S, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se and Hg, ranging in concentrations from .001 ug/m3 to up to 3.27 ug/m3 have been detected. The changes observed in the concentrations of these elements in the two sets of samples, taken just before and just after the Atomic Tests, are attributed to Synoptic rather than Nuclear Fall-Out effects.