Distribution of fallout and stack-derived plutonium in some midwestern soils

Soil samples were taken at three locations: Mound State Park located directly east and at a distance of 100 yards from the boundary of the Mound Laboratory in Miamisburg, Ohio; the Library Park in Miamisburg, located one-half mile north of the Mound Laboratory; and a wooded area near Hueston Woods, approximately 25 miles west of Miamisburg. The Miamisburg sites were chosen because of the high concentration of 238Pu that exists in soils near the Mound Laboratory. The Hueston Woods sample was chosen as representative of background concentrations derived from atmospheric levels of both 238Pu and 239240Pu. The 238239240Pu concentrations were higher in the surface soil for both the Miamisburg locations than in surface soil from Hueston Woods, indicating that 239240Pu, as well as 238Pu, had been added to the surrounding area from the Mound Laboratory stacks. The difference in concentrations of 238Pu and 239240Pu at the two sites in Miamisburg reflects the greater distance of Library Park from the stack