Fate and Bioaccumulation of Soil-Associated Low-Level Naturally Occurring Radioactivity Following Disposal into a Marine Ecosystem

摘要

The fate of Radium (Ra) and other naturally occurring Uranium series isotopes associated with soils disposed in seawater was examined using the Marine Ecosystem Research Laboratory (MERL) controlled marine ecosystems. Thirty-seven kilograms of a soil containing approximately 400 pCi Ra-226/g from an inactive uranium ore processing plant site in Middlesex, New Jersey, were added to each of two mesocosms over five days in mid-September 1984. Radionuclide activity in these and two control mesocosms was observed for three months after the soil additions. Radioactivity in the soil appeared to be confined to discrete soil particles rather than being distributed equally on the soil particles, suggesting the source of the radioactivity was remnant ore particles.