Fate of Co-60 at a Sludge Land Application Site

Vertical distributions of Co-60 are determined in soil cores obtained from a 10-hectare grassland, where anaerobically-digested sludge was applied by surface spraying from 1986 to 1995 on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation. These results, along with historical application records,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of environmental radioactivity Vol. 99; no. 10
Main Authors Smith, Michael A., Larsen, I. L., Fentiman, Audeen W.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 28.08.2008
Subjects
Biosolid
Co-60
Cobalt
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
GROUND DISPOSAL
Heavy metal
MASS BALANCE
OAK RIDGE RESERVATION
PLANTS
Radionuclide
SLUDGES
SOILS
SPECTROSCOPY
Vertical migration
WATER
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Summary:Vertical distributions of Co-60 are determined in soil cores obtained from a 10-hectare grassland, where anaerobically-digested sludge was applied by surface spraying from 1986 to 1995 on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation. These results, along with historical application records, are used to estimate vertical-migration rates and perform a mass balance. The presence of Co-60 results solely from the sludge-application process. Soil, vegetation, and surface-water samples were collected. Eleven soil cores were sectioned into 3-cm increments and analyzed by gamma-ray spectrometry. No Co-60 was detected in the vegetation or water samples. The downward migration rate of Co-60 in the upper 15 cm of soil ranged from 0.50 to 0.73 cm/yr. About 98 percent, 0.020 ± 0.011 Bq/cm2, of Co-60 remained in the upper 15 cm of soil, which compared favorably with the expected Co-60 activity based on historical records of 0.019 ± 0.010 Bq/cm2.
Bibliography:USDOE
PNNL-SA-57541
AC05-76RL01830
ISSN:0265-931X
1879-1700
DOI:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2008.06.006