Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T09:48:38.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Immobilization of Radioactive Strontium in Contaminated Soils by Phosphate Treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

K.H. Kim
Affiliation:
The University of Tennessee, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Knoxville, TN 37901
S.Y. Lee
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, TN 37831
J.T. Ammons
Affiliation:
The University of Tennessee, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Knoxville, TN 37901
Get access

Abstract

The feasibility of in situ phosphate- and metal- (calcium, aluminum, and iron) solution treatment for 90Sr immobilization was investigated. Batch and column experiments were performed to find optimum conditions for coprecipitation of 90Sr with Ca-, Al-, and Fe-phosphate compounds in contaminated soils. Separate columns were packed with artificially 85Sr-contaminated acid soil as well as 90Sr-contaminated soil from the Oak Ridge Reservation. After metal-phosphate treatment, the columns were then leached successively with either tapwater or 0.001 M CaCl2 solution. Most of the 85Sr coprecipitated with the metal phosphate compounds. Immobilization of 85Sr and 90Sr was affected by such factors as solution pH, metal and phosphate concentration, metal-to-phosphate ratio, and soil characteristics. Equilibration time after treatments also affected 85Sr immobilization. Many technology aspects still need to be investigated before field applications are feasible, but these experiments indicate that phosphate-based in situ immobilization should prevent groundwater contamination and will be useful as a treatment technology for 90Sr-contaminated sites.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Francis, C. W., Radiostrontium movement in soils and uptake by plants, TID-27564, National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA, 1978.Google Scholar
2. Stumm, W. and Morgan, J. J., Aquatic Chemistry, An introduction emphasizing chemical equilibria in natural waters, (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1970) pp. 8384.Google Scholar
3. Arora, H. S., Tamura, T., and Boegly, W. J., In-Situ Stabilization of Radioactively Contaminated Low-Level Solid Wastes Buried in Shallow Trenches-an Assessment, 0RNL/TM-7138, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 1980.Google Scholar
4. Duguid, J. O., Status report on radioactivity movement from burial grounds in Melton and Bethel valleys, ORNL-5017, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 1975.Google Scholar
5. Huff, D. D., Farrow, N. D., and Jones, J. R., Environ. Geol. 4, 53 (1982).Google Scholar
6. Melroy, L. A., Huff, D. D., and Farrow, N. D., Characterization of the near-surface radionuclide contamination associated with the bathtub effect at solid waste storape area 4, ORNL/TM-10043, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 1986.Google Scholar
7. Lindsay, W. L., Chemical equilibria in soils, (Wiley-Interscience, New York, NY 1979).Google Scholar
8. Thomas, G. W., in Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2, 2nd ed., edited by Page, A. L., Miller, R. H., and Keeney, D. R. (American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America Publisher, Madison, WI, 1982) pp.159165.Google Scholar
9. Nelson, D. W. and Sommers, L. E., in Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2, 2nd ed., edited by Page, A. L., Miller, R. H., and Keeney, D. R. (American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America Publisher, Madison, WI, 1982) pp. 570571.Google Scholar
10. Spalding, B. P., Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 703 (1980).Google Scholar
11. McHenry, J. R., Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 22, 514 (1958).Google Scholar
12. Prout, W. E., Soil Sci. 86, 13 (1958).Google Scholar
13. Rhodes, D. W., Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 21, 389 (1957).Google Scholar
14. Lindsay, W. L. and Moreno, E. C., Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 24, 177 (1960).Google Scholar
15. Lehr, J. R. and Brown, W. E., Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 22, 29 (1958).Google Scholar
16. Taylor, A. W., Gurney, E. L., and Lehr, J. R., Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 27, 145 (1963).Google Scholar