Sources of plutonium to the great Miami River
Progress is reported in the study of /sup 238/Pu, in the Great Miami River watershed the contribution of various sources to the total /sup 238/Pu transported by the river. Periodic discharges of industrial wastewater from Mound Laboratory from 1973 to 1975 have released approximately 20 mCi of /sup 238/Pu each year to the Great Miami River. Changes in the wastewater treatment system in 1976 have reduced the annual discharge to less than 3 mCi/year. However, despite this sevenfold reduction of plutonium in the wastewater discharge, the annual flux of /sup 238/Pu down the river has remained relatively constant and is approximately 10 times greater than can be accounted for by the reported effluent discharges. Therefore, other sources of the /sup 238/Pu in the Great Miami River exist. A second possible source of plutonium is the resuspension of sediments enriched by earlier waste water releases and deposited in the river. However, since there appear to be few areas where large accumulations of sediment could occur, it seems improbable that resuspension of earlier sediment deposits would continue to be a significant contributor to the annual flux of plutonium. A much more likely source is the continuing erosion of soil from a canal and stream system contaminated with approx. 5 Ci of /sup 238/Pu, /sup 7/ which connects directly to the river 6.9 km upstream from Franklin. Results from samples analyzed in 1978 show the average concentration of /sup 238/Pu in suspended sediments from the canal to be approximately 10/sup 3/ times greater than suspended sediment concentrations in the river and waste water effluent.Thus the main contributor to the total amount of plutonium transported by the Great Miami River appears to be highly enriched sediment from the canal, which is eroded into the river where it is then diluted by uncontaminated sediments.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 8503610
- Report Number(s):
- ANL-78-65(Pt.3); TRN: 80-008137
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: In: Radiological and Environmental Research Division: Ecology. Annual report, January-December 1978.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Further investigations of plutonium in aquatic biota of the Great Miami River Watershed including the canal and ponds in Miamisburg, Ohio. [Monitoring adjacent to Mound Lab]
Erosional removal of fallout plutonium from a large midwestern watershed
Related Subjects
PLUTONIUM 238
RIVERS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
INLAND WATERWAYS
MOUND LABORATORY
OHIO
PARTICLE RESUSPENSION
POLLUTION SOURCES
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
SEDIMENTS
WASTE WATER
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
GREAT LAKES REGION
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPES
LIQUID WASTES
MASS TRANSFER
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOISOTOPES
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
WASTES
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
520302* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Aquatic Ecosystems & Food Chains- (-1987)