Natural Strontium, Iodine, Cesium, and Cobalt in Savannah River Site Groundwater: Data Report (U)

摘要

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain baseline groundwater concentrations for naturally occurring stable isotopes of Sr, I, Cs, and Co in shallow aquifers at the Savannah River Site. These data are necessary to fully understand migration and remediation of 90Sr, 129I, 137Cs, and 60Co. Fourteen P-wells were selected and sampled based on their close proximity to facilities, available water table and Gordon aquifer wells, and archived core. This report provides the analytical results from the groundwater sampling and core leaching studies. Several radioactive contaminants have naturally occurring counterparts that are non-radioactive, but have chemical behavior that is identical to the radioactive contaminants. These naturally occurring isotopes are typically present in groundwater at mass concentrations that are orders of magnitude greater than their associated radionuclides. A consequence of this is that the natural constituents compete for adsorption and cation exchange site s with their radioactive counterparts, reducing retardation of the radioactive species. Hence, the concentrations of these natural species are important to the modeling of monitored natural attenuation, performance assessments, and other regulatory documents that require a fate and transport analysis.