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Plutonium Inventories in Two Old‐Field Ecosystems in the Vicinity of a Nuclear‐Fuel Reprocessing Facility
Author(s) -
Pinder J. E.,
Smith M. H.,
Boni A. L.,
Corey J. C.,
Horton J. H.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1936962
Subject(s) - plutonium , herbaceous plant , litter , environmental science , vegetation (pathology) , atmosphere (unit) , biomass (ecology) , radiochemistry , environmental chemistry , chemistry , ecology , physics , biology , meteorology , medicine , pathology
Plutonium inventories were determined in two old—field ecosystems, Fields 1 and 2, located near a nuclear—fuel reprocessing facility that had released approximately 640 mCi (24 GBq) 2 3 8 Pu and 57o mCi (21 GBq) 2 3 9 , 2 4 0 Pu to the atmosphere in the 20 yr preceding sampling. Field 1 was 230 m from the point of release (a 62—m stack) and contained 57 nCi (2.1 kBq) 2 3 8 Pu/m 2 and 225 nCi (9.4 kBq) 2 3 9 , 2 4 0 Pu/m 2 . Field 2 was 420 m from the stack and contained 15 nCi (0.56 kBq) 2 3 8 Pu/m 2 and 79 nCi (2.9 kBq) 2 3 9 , 2 4 0 Pu/ 2 . The distribution of Pu between soil and vegetation components was similar in the two fields with only 1.3% of the 2 3 8 Pu and 0.2% of the 2 3 9 , 2 4 0 Pu occuring in pines, herbaceous vegetation and litter. More of the Pu could be suspended from the soil into the atmosphere by a 6 m/s wind on Field 1 than on Field 2 due to the lower biomass of herbaceous vegetation and litter on Field 1. Approximately 2% of the 2 3 8 , 2 4 0 Pu and 0.5% of the 2 3 9 , 2 4 0 Pu could be resuspended on Field 1, whereas only 0.5% of the 2 3 8 Pu and 0.1% of the 2 3 9 , 2 4 0 Pu could be resuspended on Field 2. Plutonium contamination of the vegetation occurred primarily by (1) direct deposition of recently released Pu onto vegetation, and (2) resuspension of Pu from the soil to vegetation surfaces. Root uptake apparently made negligible contributions to the Pu content of above—ground vegetation.