Plutonium, cesium, uranium and thorium series radionuclides in the Hudson River estuary and other environments. Annual technical progress report, December 1, 1983-November 30, 1984
Radionuclide activities were measured in sediment cores and suspended particle samples from the Hudson River estuary. Activities of /sup 137/Cs, /sup 134/Cs, and /sup 60/Co, /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu and /sup 238/Pu indicate rapid accumulation in marginal cove areas, and very rapid deposition in the harbor adjacent to New York City, resulting in /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu accumulations of more than an order of magnitude greater than the fallout delivery rate. Fallout /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu moving downstream appears to be retained within the system by particle deposition, while more than 50% of the /sup 137/Cs derived from both reactor releases and fallout has been exported. Significant movement of dissolved plutonium into the estuary from adjacent coastal waters may be occurring. Depth profiles of radionuclides are not significantly altered by physical mixing processes in areas accumulating particles at greater than 1 cm/yr. Transport of fallout radionuclides appears to have decreased faster than would be calculated from continuous removal from a well-mixed soil reservoir, indicating that sequestering of a substantial portion of the soil fallout burden has occurred in the watershed soils over the past two decades. Measurements of fallout /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu in a saline lake with a high carbonate ion concentration yielded water column activities two orders of magnitude greater than that found for fallout plutonium in other continental waters, indicating extensive mobility in some natural water environments. Experiments using lake water suggest that carbonate ions are likely to be important in regulating plutonium solubility in some environments and that low molecular weight complexes are primarily responsible for enhanced plutonium solubility. 45 references, 17 figures, 14 tables.
- Research Organization:
- Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (USA). Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76EV12529
- OSTI ID:
- 6445411
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/EV/12529-26; COO-2529-26; ON: DE85000021
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Plutonium, cesium, uranium, and thorium series radionuclides in the Hudson River estuary and other environments. Annual technical progress report, December 1, 1981-November 30, 1982
Plutonium, cesium, uranium, and thorium series radionuclides in the Hudson River estuary and other environments. Annual technical progress report, December 1, 1982-November 30, 1983
Related Subjects
CESIUM 134
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
CESIUM 137
COBALT 60
HUDSON RIVER
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 240
ALPHA SPECTROSCOPY
CARBONATES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FALLOUT
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
SALINITY
SEDIMENTATION
SEDIMENTS
SOLUBILITY
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CESIUM ISOTOPES
COBALT ISOTOPES
DATA
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
RIVERS
SPECTROSCOPY
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
520300* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1989)