Studies on unsaturated zone hydrology and radionuclide migration at a shallow-land burial site

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981 · Soil Sci.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00010694-198107000-00014· OSTI ID:5897325

Schulz, R K ^[1]; Fowler, E B; Essington, E H; Polzer, W L

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley

We studied unsaturated zone hydrology and the migration of radionuclides at a shallow-land burial site located at Maxey Flats, Kentucky. The initial results indicate that the principal pathway of water entry into the trench was by percolation through the trench caps. Tritium-bearing water was found to be moving upward from a saturated waste-burial trench through the trench cap to the soil surface. Evidence of tritium movement at a depth of 3 to 4 meters was observed to a distance of about 5 meters laterally. No /sup 137/Cs migration was observed, but very small amounts of /sup 238/Pu and /sup 60/Co were found to have migrated short distances from the trench.

• OSTI ID: 5897325
• Journal Information: Soil Sci.; (United States), Journal Name: Soil Sci.; (United States) Vol. 132:1; ISSN SOSCA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
COBALT 60
COBALT ISOTOPES
DISTRIBUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
GROUND DISPOSAL
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
HYDROLOGY
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
KENTUCKY
LIGHT NUCLEI
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MIGRATION
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SOUTHEAST REGION
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
TRITIUM
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES