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Title: A preliminary assessment on the use of biochar as a soil additive for reducing soil-to-plant uptake of cesium isotopes in radioactively contaminated environments

Journal Article · · Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [5]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Marshall Islands Dose Assessment and Radioecology Program. Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
  2. Univ. of Limerick (Ireland). Carbolea Group. CES Dept.
  3. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Marshall Islands Dose Assessment and Radioecology Program. Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry; Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States)
  4. Gatusi Solutions, Divide, CO (United States)
  5. New Dark Earth, Oneida, WI (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

A series of K d tracer batch experiments were conducted in this paper to assess the absorptive-desorption properties of Biochar as a potential agent to selectively sequester labile soil Cs or otherwise help reduce the uptake of Cs isotopes into plants. A parallel experiment was conducted for strontium. Fine-grained fractionated Woodlands tree Biochar was found to have a relatively high affinity for Cs ions (K d > 100) relative to coral soil (K d < 10) collected from the Marshall Islands. The Biochar material also contains an abundance of K (and Mg). Finally, these findings support a hypothesis that the addition of Biochar as a soil amendment may provide a simple yet effective method for reducing soil-to-plant transfer of Cs isotopes in contaminated environments.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security (AU), Office of Health and Safety
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1366902
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-669077
Journal Information:
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 307, Issue 3; ISSN 0236-5731
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Fixation capability of recycling materials as potential additives for cesium immobilization in contaminated forest soil journal December 2018
Numerical and Experimental Investigations of Cesium and Strontium Sorption and Transport in Agricultural Soils journal January 2018

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
Marshall Islands
Biochar
remediation
137Cs
cesium distribution coefficients
Kd values