Aerodynamic size associations of 212Pb and 214Pb in ambient aerosols.

The aerodynamic size distributions of short-lived Rn daughters (reported as 214Pb and 212Pb) in ambient aerosol particles were measured using low-pressure as well as conventional low-volume and high-volume impactors. The activity distribution of 214Pb and 212Pb, measured by alpha spectroscopy, was largely associated with submicron aerosols in the accumulation mode (0.08 to 2 microns).

Field and greenhouse experiments on the fate of technetium in plants and soil.

The behavior of 95mTc in plants and in a Captina silt loam soil following a single application of the pertechnetate form of the radionuclide to bare soil was compared between field and greenhouse conditions. Over a period of approx. six months, the net uptake of 95mTc by plants from undisturbed, intact soil in the greenhouse was about a factor of 10 greater than that in the field.

Dissolution characteristics of Pu-contaminated soils and sediments in lung serum simulant solution.

Dissolution characteristics of Pu from contaminated Nevada Test Site (NTS) and Rocky Flats (RF) soils, and Mound Laboratory (ML) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) sediments in lung serum simulant solution at 37 degrees C were investigated. The dissolved Pu concentration had reached a maximum within a day of equilibration and the percent dissolved Pu at the maximum was 0.70 (RF), 0.

Geologic migration potentials of technetium-99 and neptunium-237.

Relatively mobile TcO(+)(-) and NpO(2)(+) can be chemically reduced to less soluble oxidation states in the presence of igneous rocks, as predicted by oxidation-reduction measurements. Current risk assessments, which consider technetium and neptunium as potentially capable of migrating from high-level radioactive waste repositories, may be overestimating their potential hazard to the public since the Fe(II) content of many subsurface waters may maintain these elements in less soluble oxidation states.

Radioisotope techniques in delineation of the environmental behavior of cadmium.

Radioisotope techniques are being developed and utilized at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for evaluating the environmental behavior of toxic elements such as cadmium in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Tracer techniques using 109Cd in microcosm, field plot, and stream systems are providing information on biogeochemical cycling and distribution of cadmium in the environment. Parameters being measured include adsorption capacity for cadmium in mineral soils and sediments; uptake rates of cadmium in various plant species from both soils and nutrient solutions as affected by pH, competing cations, and chemical form of cadmium; and distribution of cadmium in various components of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems following application of 109Cd to soil vegetation, or directly to streams.