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DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN STRONTIUM AND CALCIUM IN PLANTS AND SOILS BY R P MARTIN, P NEWBOULD AND R SCOTT RUSSELL ( UNESCO )

MARTIN, R P [UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, OXFORD, ENGLAND]; NEWBOULD, P [UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, OXFORD, ENGLAND]; RUSSELL, R S [UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, OXFORD, ENGLAND]

STRONTIUM 89; CALCIUM 45; PLANTS; SOILS; ABSORPTION; CALCIUM ISOTOPES; STRONTIUM 90; FOOD CHAINS; CALCULATION METHODS; RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS; TESTING; PROCEDURES; DIAGRAMS; DATA; RADIATION MONITORING; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; COMMENTARY; GRAPHS; ACTIVITY LEVELS

Location - DOE/NNSA NUCLEAR TESTING ARCHIVE Address - P.O. Box 98521 City - Las Vegas State - NV Zip - 89193-8521 Phone - (702)794-5106 Fax - (702)862-4240 Email - NTA@NV.DOE.GOV

REPORT

Never classified

0015

NV0049195

UNESCONSRIC175

1994 Aug 26

2003 Sep 18

THE ABSORPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF STRONTIUM AND CALCIUM IN BARLEY PLA NTS HAS BEEN STUDIED. THE DISTRIBUTION OF STRONTIUM IS SIMILAR TO THA T OF CALCIUM BUT IT MOVES MORE SLOWLY. THE OBSERVED RATIO (I.E. INTER NAL STRONTIUM/CALCIUM DIVIDED BY EXTERNAL STRONTIUM/CALCIUM) IS CLOSE TO ONE BUT THE VALUES FOR LEAVES, WHICH USUALLY CONTAIN THE MAJOR PAR T OF THE STRONTIUM AND CALCIUM IN HERBACEOUS PLANTS, ARE NORMALLY SOME WHAT LOWER THAN THOSE FOR ROOTS. THE STEMS HOWEVER SHOW SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER VALUES THAN OTHER TISSUES. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT ALTHOUGH DISC RIMINATION OCCURES BETWEEN THE TWO IONS WITHIN PLANTS IT IS UNIMPORTAN T FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THEIR MOVEMENT THROUGH FOOD CHAINS. THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LABILE CALCIUM IN SOILS HAVE BEEN STUDIED BY ISOTOPIC EXCHANGE: RAPID AND SLOW EXCHANGE REACTIONS HAVE BEEN DISTINGUISHED. THE EQUILIBRATION OF CARRIERFREE STRONTIUM 89 AN D CALCIUM 45 WITH LABILE SOIL CALCIUM IS COMPLEX: STRONTIUM IS MORE FI RMLY RETAINED THAN CALCIUM. THIS DIFFERENTIAL BEHAVIOUR MAY INCREASE PROGRESSIVELY FOR PERIODS OF AT LEAST 70 DAYS. MARKED DIFFERENCES OC CUR BETWEEN SOIL TYPES AND NO PROCEDURES FOR EXTRACTING STRONTIUM AND CALCIUM FROM SOILS APPEARS ADEQUATE TO GIVE A VALID REPRESENTATION OF THE RELATIVE AVAILABILITY OF THE TWO IONS TO PLANTS. THE APPLICATION OF LIME INCREASES THE LABILE CALCIUM IN SOILS WHICH IS ACCESSIBLE TO BARLEY OR CABBAGE. THE RATIO STRONTIUM-89/CALCIUM-40 A BSORBED IS NOT CORRESPONDINGLY DEPRESSED AND IN SOME SOILS IT MAY BE U NAFFECTED. THESE RESULTS ARE COMPATIBLE WITH OBSERVATIONS THAT ADDED LIME MAY HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON THE ABSORPTION OF STRONTIUM-89 FROM SO ME TYPES OF SOIL.