Natural radionuclides in ground waters and cores

Investigations of natural radionuclides of uranium and thorium decay series in site-specific ground waters and cores (water/rock interaction) can provide information on the expected migration behavior of their radioactive waste and analog radionuclides in the unlikely event of radioactive releases from a repository. These data in ground waters can provide in situ retardation and sorption/desorption parameters for transport models and their associated kinetics (residence time). These data in cores can also provide information on migration or leaching up to a period of about one million years. Finally, the natural radionuclide data can provide baseline information for future monitoring of possible radioactive waste releases. The natural radionuclides of interest are 238U, 234Th, 234U, 230Th, 226Ra, 222Rn, 210Pb, 210Bi, 210Po, 232Th, 228Ra, 228Th, and 224Ra. The half-lives of the daughter radionuclides range from 3 days to 2.5 x 105 yr. The data discussed are for low ionic strength ground waters from the Hanford (basalt) site and briny ground waters (high ionic strength) and cores from the Deaf Smith salt site. Similar applications of the natural radionuclide data can be extended to the Nevada Tuff repository site and subseabed disposal site. The concentrations of uranium, thorium, radium, lead, and polonium radionuclides are generally very low in ground waters. However, significant differences in disequilibrium exist between basalt and briny ground waters