Plutonium and americium behavior in coral atoll environments

Abstract

Inventories of /sup 239 +240/Pu and /sup 241/Am greatly in excess of global fallout levels persist in the benthic environments of Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. Quantities of /sup 239 +240/Pu and lesser amounts of /sup 241/Am are continuously mobilizing from these sedimentary reservoirs. The amount of /sup 239 +240/Pu mobilized to solution at any time represents 0.08 to 0.09% of the sediment inventories to a depth of 16 cm. The mobilized /sup 239 +240/Pu has solute-like characteristics and different valence states coexist in solution - the largest fraction of the soluble plutonium is in an oxidized form (+V,VI). The adsorption of plutonium to sediments is not completely reversible because of changes that occur in the relative amounts of the mixed oxidation states in solution with time. Further, any characteristics of /sup 239 +240/Pu described at one location may not necessarily be relevant in describing its behavior elsewhere following mobilization and migration. The relative amounts of /sup 241/Am to /sup 239 +240/Pu in the sedimentary deposits at Enewetak and Bikini may be altered in future years because of mobilization and radiological decay. Mobilization of /sup 239 +240/Pu is not a process unique to these atolls, and quantities in solution derived frommore » sedimentary deposits can be found at other global sites. These studies in the equatorial Pacific have significance in assessing the long-term behavior of the transuranics in any marine environment. 22 references, 1 figure, 13 tables.« less