Open AccessRadionuclide concentrations in vegetation at radioactive-waste disposal Area G during the 1994 growing season
Author(s) -
P.R. Fresquez,
J.B. Biggs,
K.D. Bennett
Publication year - 1995
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/88635
Subject(s) - plutonium , vegetation (pathology) , environmental science , radionuclide , tritium , radioactive waste , americium , savannah river site , uranium , radiochemistry , chemistry , nuclear chemistry , nuclear physics , medicine , physics , pathology
Overstory (pinon pine) and understory (grass and forb) vegetation samples were collected within and around selected points at Area G-a low-level radioactive solid-waste disposal facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory-for the analysis of tritium ({sup 3}H), strontium ({sup 90}Sr), plutonium ({sup 238} Pu and {sup 239}Pu), cesium ({sup 137}Cs), americium ({sup 241}Am), and total uranium. In general, most vegetation samples collected within and around Area G contained radionuclide levels in higher concentrations than vegetation collected from background areas. Tritium, in particular, was detected as high as 5,800 pCi/mL in overstory vegetation collected outside the fence just west of the tritium shafts; this suggests that tritium is migrating from this waste repository through subsurface pathways. Also, understory vegetation collected north of the transuranic (TRU) pads (outside the fence of Area G) contained the highest values of {sup 90}Sr, {sup 238}Pu, {sup 239}Pu, {sup 137}Cs, and {sup 241}Am, and may be a result of surface holding, storage, or disposal activities