SREL Reprint #1797
Sedimentation flux of plutonium in a warm, monomictic reservoir
J. W. Bowling1, J.E. Pinder III1, R. F. Lide1, K. A. Orlandini2, and W. R. Penrose2
1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29801, USA
2Center for Environmental Research, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60439, USA
Abstract: To evaluate the importance of particle settling on the behavior of 239,240Pu inventories in the water column of a monomictic reservoir, the sedimentation fluxes of 239,240Pu were measured using sediment traps and compared to the Pu inventories. Sedimentation flux from surface to deeper waters averaged 5·4 mBq 239,240Pu m-2 d-1 which represented ≥3% of the surface water inventory of Pu per day. The fluxes were large enough to account for (1) the observed declines in the Pu inventories of surface waters following stratification and (2) the rapid increase in Pu inventories in deeper waters immediately following stratification.
SREL Reprint #1797
Bowling, J.W., J.E. Pinder III, R.F. Lide, K.A. Orlandini, and W.R. Penrose. 1992. Sedimentation flux of plutonium in a warm, monomictic reservoir. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 22:111-126.
This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).