Assessing the impact of hazardous constituents on the mobilization, transport, and fate of radionuclides in RCRA waste disposal units.
This report discusses the impact that hazardous organic chemical constituents could have on the mobilization, transport, and fate of radionuclides in disposal units regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The effect on a radionuclide's distribution coefficient (K{sub d}) is used as an indicator. Many factors can affect K{sub d}, including the chemical form of the radionuclide, pH of the leachate, nature of the organic constituents, porosity of the soil, amount of water in the landfill, infiltration rate of the water, presence of a chelating agent or other chemical species, and age of the landfill. A total of 19 radionuclides were studied. Of these, nine (H-3, C-14, Se-79, Sr-90, Tc-99, I-129, U-238, Np-237, and Am-241) were found to have the potential to reach groundwater and cause contamination; the remaining 10 (Co-60, Ni-63, Sb-125,Cs-137, Sm-151, Eu-152, Eu-154, Th-230, Th-232, and Pu-239) were considered less likely to cause groundwater contamination. It was also found that when organic material is in solution, it tends to lower a radionuclide's K{sub d} (and enhance transport), whereas when it is in a solid phase, it tends to increase the K{sub d}. The study introduces a simple model to estimate effective K{sub d} values on the basis of total organic carbon concentrations in landfill leachate. However, given the fact that the effective K{sub d} values of radionuclides in RCRA disposal units can either increase or decrease as the result of many factors, including the form of the organic matter (solid or in solution), the study concludes that whenever they are available, actual (measured) K{sub d} values rather than modeled values should be used to conduct dose and risk assessments of radionuclides in RCRA disposal units.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 786918
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/EAD/TM-93; TRN: US0109192
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 29 Aug 2001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
PH VALUE
LEACHATES
SOIL MECHANICS
GROUND WATER
CONTAMINATION
HELIUM 3
CARBON 14
SELENIUM 79
STRONTIUM 90
TECHNETIUM 99
IODINE 129
URANIUM 238
NEPTUNIUM 237
AMERICIUM 241