Leaching behavior of particulate plutonium oxide

Different size cuts of 238PuO2 particles were mixed with deionized water at two temperatures in a shaker bath. The gross plutonium concentration in the water was measured, as well as that portion of the plutonium retained on a 0.1-μm pore filter. The concentration of the plutonium released was primarily a function of the surface area of the particles. The release rate of plutonium into the water for the size cut with particles having diameters between 30 and 20 μm was 3 ng/m2/s; this rate is within the range observed in past experiments involving aquatic environments. The amount of material retained by the 0.1-μm filters decreased with increasing time, suggesting that size reduction or removal processes occurred. 6 refs., 3 figs., 9 tabs