Influence of soil biopopulation on migration of waste radionuclides

This paper reports the interpretation of some results obtained when a Maxey Flats burial pit radioactive waste solution was reacted with a Tilsit soil. The influence of a biopopulation on the degree of sorption and on the stability of that system was investigated. The data have been interpreted as follows: the removal of 137Cs from solution by the soil is essentially complete within a one-hour period and is not influenced by an active biopopulation. The soil studied contains complexers which solublize 238Pu. The soluble complex does not sorb to soil and thus is potentially mobile. In the presence of an active biopopulation 86% of the complexes is degraded; the released 238Pu was rendered immobile. The remaining 14% of the soluble 238Pu was not released to the soil during 53 days incubation. That fraction is heat stable and non- or slowly-biodegradable and thus retains its potential to migrate