Premium
Plutonium in a Grassland Ecosystem at Rocky Flats
Author(s) -
Little Craig A.,
Whicker F. Ward,
Winsor Terrol F.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1980.00472425000900030004x
Subject(s) - plutonium , environmental science , grassland , terrestrial ecosystem , ecosystem , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , geology , biology , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , radiochemistry
Portions of the grassland around the Rocky Flats installation of the U.S. Department of Energy, located about 12 km northwest of the Denver metropolitan area, were contaminated with Pu between 1959 and 1964. This study was designed to elucidate the Pu distribution patterns in the terrestrial ecosystem immediately downwind of the contamination source. We concluded that wind erosion of contaminated soil was likely the chief mechanism of plutonium transport and that soil contained 99.7% of the plutonium in the system. Plant and small animal compartments combined contained less than 0.3% of the total Pu inventory which averaged about 53 µ Ci/m 2 in the study area.