The effect of oxygen tension in the sediment on the behaviour of waste radionuclides at the NEA Atlantic dumpsite

Predictions of the transport and fate of waste radionuclides at the NEA Atlantic dumpsite require a knowledge of the behaviour of these nuclides within the sediment. Since redox conditions are known to influence the mobility of many elements in deep-sea sediments, we have investigated the speciation of some trace elements in relation to the dissolved oxygen concentration in sediments from the dumpsite. Dissolved oxygen in these sediments penetrates mostly between 50 and 100 cm, although at topographic highs and on hillsides oxygen penetrates more than 2 m into the sediment because of the special hydrodynamic and sedimentological conditions there. Remobilization at lowered redox potentials below the depth where oxygen reaches zero causes an upward diffusive transport of Mn and the manganese-associated trace metals Co and Ni. Whether this diagenetic mobilization influences other elements such as rare earth elements and actinides as well, remains to be investigated. Under normal sedimentological condition this mobilization can not be expected to return radioactivity to the water column through an oxidized sediment layer of 50 cm. However, burial of radioactivity to depths beyond the reach of deep burrowing organisms can be significantly delayed. Kd values (solid/dissolved partition coefficients) of redox sensitive elements vary over orders of magnitude and are inappropriate to model the behaviour of these elements in sediments with redox gradients