Distribution of radioactivity between rock materials and water at Nevada test site

Static leaching experiments were performed on radioactive debris from Nevada Test Site. Two levels of tracer were used in the leach solution, which was well water from NTS. Debris consisted of puddle glass (samples 1 and 3) and chimney materials (samples 2 and 4). The maximum leaching time was 384 days. High values of K/sub DA/, the ratio of the activity per unit area of solid to the activity concentration in the leach solution, are associated with high values of pH for samples 1, 2, 3, but not 4. A correlation between high K/sub DA/ and high pH suggests that as the solid particles dissolve during the leaching experiments, the acid used in making up the tracer solutions is neutralized. However, the behavior of sample 4 indicates that other factors besides pH can influence the K/sub DA/. Insofar as K/sub DA/ increases with time or with pH , this has favorable practical consequences for NTS hydrology since a species with a high K/sub DA/ tends to remain associated with the debris near its point of origin. Such association would be expected to inhibit transport of the species by ground water. The effect of debris type is smallest for 85Sr and 60Co: K/sub DA/ for these species is approximately the same for both puddle glass and chimney material. The effect of tracer level is not noticeable for 85Sr and 60Co, but in the case of 134Cs and 152Eu, high tracer level is associated with high K/sub DA/