Field observations of 110mAg, originating from the Chernobyl accident, in west Cumbrian vegetation and soil samples

During the analyses of sheep and cattle tissues following the Chernobyl accident, the only nuclide routinely detected in the short count times being used, apart from the caesium isotopes and 131I, was 11omAg in the liver. The author compares the activity concentration of 110mAg and 131Cs in the liver of sheep slaughtered during the first four months after deposition from various sites in Cumbria. The ratio of 110mAg to 134Cs ranges from 0.09 to 1.67 with a coefficient of variation of 102%. A review of the available literature has shown that the behaviour of silver in the terrestrial environment is relatively poorly understood. A research programme to study the behaviour of 110mAg resulting from Chernobyl was therefore put into progress. The most important aspect of this work is the transfer of 110mAg to the liver of ruminants. Results for field observations of the transfer of 110mAg to vegetation are discussed by the author.