Comparative food-chain behavior and distribution of actinide elements in and around a contaminated fresh-water pond

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6456078

Garten, Jr, C T; Trabalka, J R; Bogle, M A

The bioaccumulation of /sup 233/ /sup 234/U, /sup 238/U, /sup 238/Pu, /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu, /sup 241/Am, and /sup 244/Cm in both native and introduced biota was studied at Pond 3513, a former low-level radioactive waste settling basin at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This system, which was decommissioned in 1976 after more than 30 years use, contains approximately 5 Ci of /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu; inventories of other actinide isotopes are considerably less. Significantly higher concentrations of actinides in fish that were allowed access to sediments indicated that sedimentary particulates may be the primary source of transuranics to biota in shallow fresh-water ecosystems. Our study determined habitat, in particular the degree of association of an organism with the sediment-water interface, to be the primary factor in controlling transuranic concentrations in aquatic biota. In most of the biological samples analyzed, excluding samples suspected of being contaminated by sediment, /sup 241/Am//sup 239/Pu, /sup 244/Cm//sup 239/Pu, and /sup 238/U//sup 239/Pu ratios were greater than the respective ratio in sediment while /sup 233/ /sup 234/U//sup 238/U, and /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu//sup 238/Pu ratios were not different from the respective ratios in sediment. The relative uptake of actinides from contaminated sediment by aquatic and terrestrial biota at this site was U > Cm greater than or equal to Am > Pu. The relative extractability of actinides from shoreline sediment was U > Cm approx. = Am > Pu; we also observed the same relative ranking for sediment-water exchange in situ. Concentrations of transuranics in water, terrestrial vegetation, and vertebrate carcasses were less than 10% of the recommended public exposure maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of the ICRP.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 6456078
• Report Number(s): CONF-810722-5; ON: DE81026522
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520302* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Aquatic Ecosystems & Food Chains-- (-1987)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ACTINIDES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM 241
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CURIUM 244
CURIUM ISOTOPES
DATA
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FISHES
HEAVY NUCLEI
INFORMATION
INTERFACES
ISOTOPES
METALS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 240
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
PONDS
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
SEDIMENT-WATER INTERFACES
UPTAKE
URANIUM 233
URANIUM 234
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
VERTEBRATES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES