skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Plutonium Speciation, Solubilization and Migration in Soils

Abstract

The DOE is currently conducting cleanup activities at its nuclear weapons development sites, many of which have accumulated plutonium in soils for 50 years. To properly control Pu migration in soils within Federal sites and onto public lands, better evaluate the public risk, and design effective remediation strategies, a fundamental understanding of Pu speciation and environmental transport is needed. The key scientific goals of this project are: to determine Pu concentrations and speciation at contaminated DOE sites; to study the formation, stability, and structural and spectroscopic features of environmentally relevant Pu species; to determine the mechanism(s) of interaction between Pu and Mn/Fe minerals and the potential release of Pu via redox cycling; and to model the environmental behavior of plutonium. Our goal is to use characterization, thermodynamic, mineral interaction, and mobility data to develop better models of radionuclide transport and risk assessment, and to enable the development of science-based decontamination strategies.

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab., Los Alamos, NM; Oak Ridge National Lab., Oak Ridge, TN (US)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) (US)
OSTI Identifier:
834600
Report Number(s):
EMSP-73819-2002
R&D Project: EMSP 73819; TRN: US200433%%226
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Jun 2002
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; DECONTAMINATION; DESIGN; ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT; NUCLEAR WEAPONS; PLUTONIUM; PUBLIC LANDS; RADIOISOTOPES; RISK ASSESSMENT; SOILS; STABILITY; TRANSPORT

Citation Formats

Neu, Mary P, and Haire, Richard G. Plutonium Speciation, Solubilization and Migration in Soils. United States: N. p., 2002. Web. doi:10.2172/834600.
Neu, Mary P, & Haire, Richard G. Plutonium Speciation, Solubilization and Migration in Soils. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/834600
Neu, Mary P, and Haire, Richard G. 2002. "Plutonium Speciation, Solubilization and Migration in Soils". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/834600. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/834600.
@article{osti_834600,
title = {Plutonium Speciation, Solubilization and Migration in Soils},
author = {Neu, Mary P and Haire, Richard G},
abstractNote = {The DOE is currently conducting cleanup activities at its nuclear weapons development sites, many of which have accumulated plutonium in soils for 50 years. To properly control Pu migration in soils within Federal sites and onto public lands, better evaluate the public risk, and design effective remediation strategies, a fundamental understanding of Pu speciation and environmental transport is needed. The key scientific goals of this project are: to determine Pu concentrations and speciation at contaminated DOE sites; to study the formation, stability, and structural and spectroscopic features of environmentally relevant Pu species; to determine the mechanism(s) of interaction between Pu and Mn/Fe minerals and the potential release of Pu via redox cycling; and to model the environmental behavior of plutonium. Our goal is to use characterization, thermodynamic, mineral interaction, and mobility data to develop better models of radionuclide transport and risk assessment, and to enable the development of science-based decontamination strategies.},
doi = {10.2172/834600},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/834600}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2002},
month = {Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2002}
}