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Plutonium Contents and Fluxes in a Soybean Crop Ecosystem Near a Nuclear Fuel Chemical Separations Facility
Author(s) -
Adriano D. C.,
Pinder J. E.,
Mc Leod K. W.,
Corey J. C.,
Boni A. L.
Publication year - 1982
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/jeq1982.00472425001100030036x
Subject(s) - contamination , environmental science , plutonium , environmental chemistry , ecosystem , crop , plutonium 240 , radiochemistry , plutonium 239 , chemistry , agronomy , ecology , biology , nuclear physics , physics , fission , neutron
A soybean ( Glycine max ) crop was grown in fields within 1 km of a nuclear fuel chemical separations plant at the Savannah River Plant, S.C. Aerial releases of 238 Pu and 239,240 Pu have been occurring at various rates during the past 25 years and have produced characteristic Pu isotopic ratios (ISR) in various environmental matrices. This unique situation, along with pot studies and a farm site receiving only global fallout, provided the opportunity to study various biological and physical processes that determine Pu contamination of ecosystems and their components. Contamination of the external surfaces of the soybeans contributed more to Pu contamination than did root uptake and translocation. Contamination of beans harvested with a combine was also mostly surficial, indicating that physical processes are more important than biological processes in this “real‐world” situation. Pu‐bearing particles directly deposited from the point source (62‐m stack) and soil‐surface resuspendible materials were the primary contaminants for the vegetation, while resuspension and transfer of Pu‐bearing particles from vegetative surfaces were the dominant ones for the harvested beans. The Pu input from this particular chemical separations facility to the foodstuff (soybean beans) contributed little to radiation dose to humans compared with the natural background radiation.