The self-cleaning capacity of surface waters after radioactive fallout. Evidence from European waters after Chernobyl, 1986-1988

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Environmental Science and Technology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/es00074a009· OSTI ID:5464759

Santschi, P H ^[1]; Bollhalder, S; Zingg, S; Lueck, A; Farrenkothen, K ^[2]

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1. Texas A and M Univ., Galveston (USA)
2. Swiss Institute of Water Resources and Water Pollution Control, Duebendorf (Switzerland)

Radionuclide fallout from the burning Chernobyl reactor provided a pulsed input of {sup 137}Cs to surface waters and watersheds of Europe. Radionuclide analyses of surface waters indicated that initial rates of decrease of {sup 137}Cs concentrations in contaminated rivers were on the order of 0.125 day{sup {minus}1}, which was found to be consistent with the size of the mobile inventory in the watersheds (i.e., {approximately}1% of total) and with the initial dilution rate (i.e., {approximately} 0.5 m{sup {minus}1}) in river water. Analysis of {sup 134}Cs and {sup 137}Cs in waters from five different lakes in Switzerland and of settling particles collected in sediment traps from one of the lakes, Lake Zurich, revealed relatively fast whole-lake removal rates. Residence times of {sup 137}Cs in the five study lakes ranged from 5 to 21 months. Horizontal boundaries in this lake appeared to have acted first as sinks of Chernobyl {sup 137}Cs from the upper water column and later as sources of {sup 137}Cs to deeper parts of Lake Zurich. Rates of adsorption/desorption of {sup 137}Cs associated with settling particles, when compared in subsurface waters to those of uptake/release by other processes occurring in the lake, were found to be small.

• OSTI ID: 5464759
• Journal Information: Environmental Science and Technology; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology; (United States) Vol. 24:4; ISSN ESTHA; ISSN 0013-936X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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