Soil components that influence the chemical behavior of 239Pu

Soil components that influence the extractability of 239Pu from an artificially contaminated kaolinitic soil in relation to pH have been examined. This was done by using an equilibrium batch technique with CH3COOH--NH4OH and HNO3--NaOH extracting systems. Soil organic matter and free iron oxides had an appreciable effect depending on the pH and the extracting system. The free silica and alumina and amorphous alumino-silicates had lesser influence. With the untreated soil (control), the CH3COOH--NH4OH system generally extracted more 239Pu than did the HNO3--NaOH system in the acidic pH range, whereas the latter system extracted markedly greater amounts of it in the alkaline pH range. With the soil from which the organic matter was removed, the CH3COOH--NH4OH system extracted appreciably greater amounts of 239Pu than the HNO3--NaOH system in the acidic pH range, but there was only little, if any, difference between the two extracting systems in the alkaline pH range. The causes and the implications of these results are discussed