Radionuclide transport from soil to air, native vegetation, kangaroo rats and grazing cattle on the Nevada test site
Between 1970 and 1986 the Nevada Applied Ecology Group (NAEG), U.S. Department of Energy, conducted environmental radionuclide studies at weapons-testing sites on or adjacent to the Nevada Test Site. In this paper, NAEG studies conducted at two nuclear (fission) sites (NS201, NS219) and two nonnuclear (nonfission) sites (Area 13 (Project 57) and Clean Slate 2) are reviewed, synthesized and compared regarding (1) soil particle-size distribution and physical-chemical characteristics of 239 + 240Pu-bearing radioactive particles, (2) 239 + 240Pu resuspension rates and (3) transuranic and fission-product radionuclide transfers from soil to native vegetation, kangaroo rats and grazing cattle. The data indicate that transuranic radionuclides were transferred more readily on the average from soil to air, the external surfaces of native vegetation and to tissues of kangaroo rats at Area 13 than at NS201 or NS219. The 239 + 240Pu resuspension factor for undisturbed soil at Area 13 was three to four orders-of-magnitude larger than at NS201 and NS219, the geometric mean (GM) vegetation-over-soil 239 + 240Pu concentration ratio was from ten to 100 times larger than at NS201, and the GM GI-over-soil, carcass-over-soil and pelt-over-soil 239 + 240Pu ratios for kangaroo rats were about ten times larger than at NS201. These results are consistent with the finding that Area 13, compared with NS201 or NS219, has a higher percentage of radioactivity associated with smaller soil particles and a larger percentage of resuspendable and respirable soil. However, the resuspension factor increased by a factor of 27 at NS201 when the surface soil was disturbed, and by a factor of 12 at NS219 following a wildfire.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6787195
- Journal Information:
- Health Phys.; (United States), Vol. 55:6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AIR
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
CATTLE
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
FOOD CHAINS
CONTAMINATION
PLANTS
PLUTONIUM 239
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
PLUTONIUM 240
RATS
SOILS
ISOTOPE RATIO
NEVADA TEST SITE
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
AEROSOLS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ANIMALS
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MAMMALS
MASS TRANSFER
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
RODENTS
RUMINANTS
SOLS
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
VERTEBRATES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
510300* - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
500300 - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
560162 - Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology- Animals
Plants
Microorganisms
& Cells