The use of sapropels for remediation of soil contaminated by radionuclides in the Republic of Belarus as a result of the Chernobyl catastrophe

In this paper the possibility is discussed of using the resources of fresh water lake sediments (sapropels) for remediation of soil contaminated by radionuclides in Belarus. This research deals with six samples of different types of sapropels and four samples of sandy soil of Belarus. The objective of this study is twofold: firstly, to verify whether the solid / liquid distribution behavior of radiocesium and radiostrontium in sapropels is governed by the same processes as in soils (and if so, whether this solid / liquid distribution can be described quantitatively on the basis of a number of easily measurable physicochemical parameters of soil); secondly, to estimate the potential effectiveness of using different types of sapropels amendments to some sandy soils from the Chernobyl contaminated zone which are characterized by relatively low sorption properties for both radionuclides. (author)