On the compartmental modeling of cesium migration in soils

The prediction of the migration of radionuclides in soil following deposition after a nuclear accident is important for both external dose and plant uptake prediction. In this paper, the validity conditions of compartment models for cesium migration in soils are investigated. A compartment model is derived from a diffusion-convection model. The model considers free and bound cesium compartments and is applied to measured profiles of 137Cs of undisturbed soil in Northern Greece. It is concluded that the rate of cesium transfer must vary linearly with depth and that from measured equilibrium profiles, the ratios of model parameters can be determined but not the parameters themselves. This model is applied to measured profiles of 137Cs in soil due to wet deposition following the Chernobyl accident