Curium uptake by crops from naturally-weathered contaminated soil

Uptake of 244Cm by Bahia grass, clover, corn, soybean and wheat, as influenced by the addition of lime or lime and chelate to soil, was investigated in a greenhouse experiment. The soil used was from the floodplain of a stream which had received liquid effluents from a nuclear fuel chemical separations facility and contained 0.8 pCi 244Cm/g. Uptake of Cm by these crops was low with average concentration ratios of 10-3. Lime addition decreased uptake in most cases by a factor of 2 or more. Uptake response to chelate addition of the limed treatment was not very noticeable. The five crop species showed only slight differences in uptake. Only minimal quantities of 244Cm were incorporated into edible portions. Human consumption of crops grown in this soil would pose little health hazard, based on ICRP standards. (author)