Influence of zeolite on the availability of radiocaesium in soil to plants.

Plant availability of radiocaesium is usually high immediately after incorporation in a soil. However, for some Swedish soils, e.g, peat soils, a high radiocaesium uptake in plants has also been observed during a second growth period after contamination. For these soils the reduction in the plant availability of the nuclide seems to be a slow process. In the last two years the mineral zeolite has become of interest and has been tested as a caesium binding agent in both animal and in soil-plant systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the time dependency and the effect of zeolite on the plant availability of radiocaesium in a peat soil-plant system. The pot experiments designed for this purpose were carried out in a climate chamber, using winter wheat as the test crop. A significant reduction of the uptake of 134Cs was obtained in wheat when increasing amounts of zeolite were added. This reduction in plant uptake, up to a factor of 8, might depend on two factors. One is that zeolite has reduced the activity concentration of radiocaesium in the soil solution available to the plant roots. The other is that the potassium added with the natural zeolite increased the degree of dilution of caesium in the soil solution. Also, increasing equilibration time for caesium in soil before sowing brought about an effective reduction in the caesium uptake.     

137Cs availability for soil to understory transfer in different types of forest ecosystems

A quantitative analysis of 137Cs bioavailability in forest soils in the long term after the Chernobyl NPP accident based on a 3-year (1996-1998) investigation is presented. Five forest sites with different trees, composition and properties of soil were studied to identify factors determining radiocaesium transfer to different understory species. The following parameters were investigated: 137Cs activity concentrations and its speciation in various horizons of forest soil, accumulation of this radionuclide by different species of understory vegetation and distribution of root biomass in the soil profile. It has been shown that one decade after the deposition maximum 137Cs activity in soil of the experimental sites considered is located in different soil layers dependent on moisture regime, characteristics of litter and soil properties. A linear dependence between aggregated transfer factors for different species and groups of species of understory vegetation and exchangeable and available fractions of radiocaesium in soil was found. The vertical distribution of 137Cs activity, percentage of exchangeable radiocaesium in each horizon of litter and soil, as well as distribution of root systems (mycelia) over the soil profile are key factors governing variations in the availability of 137Cs for transfer to all forest understory components.     

Migration of fallout radiocaesium in a grassland soil from 1986 to 2001. Part I: activity-depth profiles of (134)Cs and (137)Cs

The temporal changes of the vertical distribution of (134)Cs (deposited by the Chernobyl fallout in 1986) and (137)Cs (deposited by the Chernobyl and the global fallout) in the soil were investigated at an undisturbed Bavarian grassland site in Germany. At ten sampling dates between 1986 and 2001, the activity density of (134)Cs and (137)Cs was determined in various soil layers down to 80 cm depth. In 2001, the small-scale spatial variability of the radiocaesium activity was determined by sampling five plots within 10 m(2) (coefficient of variation about 20% for the upper soil layers). Between 1987 and 1990, substantial changes of the activity-depth profiles were observed. The percentage depth distributions of (134)Cs and (137)Cs were rather similar. The 50%-depth of the accumulated activity increased from 2.4 cm in 1988 to 5.3 cm in 2001 for (134)Cs and from 2.7 to 5.8 cm for (137)Cs. This indicates that at the study site the migration data of Chernobyl-derived (137)Cs can be estimated by those of total (137)Cs. In the second part of this study, the activity-depth profiles will be evaluated by the convection-dispersion model [Schimmack, W, Feria Márquez, F. Migration of fallout radiocaesium in a grassland soil from 1986 to 2001. Part II: Evaluation of the activity-depth profiles by transport models. Sci Total Environ 2006-this issue].     

冻土融沉系数的经验确定方法

冻土融沉系数是计算冻土融化后沉降量的重要参数,也是多年冻土融沉性分类的一个指标.本文根据345个冻土原状样品融沉压缩试验数据资料,对细砾土、砂土、粉土、粘性土、泥炭化粘性土和泥炭质土这六类土,分别得出了估计其融沉系数a0的回归分析方程.同时还简单论述了采用超塑含水量(w-wp)因子估计山区粘性土融沉性的效果及原因,分析...     

The radioecological consequences for lowland pastures used to fatten upland sheep contaminated with radiocaesium

Current farming practice in upland areas of Cumbria, England, affected by Chernobyl fallout is to remove lambs to lowland pastures for fattening prior to slaughter. The radiocaesium (137Cs and 134Cs) burden of lambs is rapidly lost via excreta deposited on the pasture. This may increase the radiocaesium activities in vegetation of these pastures. Studies were performed to assess the radioecological consequences of this practice. Results obtained from experiments were used to calibrate a soil/vegetation model which was used to predict long-term radiocaesium behavior.     

Prediction of the effects of soil-based countermeasures on soil solution chemistry of soils contaminated with radiocesium using the hydrogeochemical code PHREEQC

For agriculturally used areas, which are contaminated by the debris from a nuclear accident, the use of chemical amendmends (e.g. potassium chloride and lime) is among the most common soil-based countermeasures. These countermeasures are intended to reduce the plant uptake of radionuclides (mainly 137Cs and 90Sr) by competitive inhibition by chemically similar ions. So far, the impacts of countermeasures on soil solution composition - and thus, their effectiveness - have almost exclusively been established experimentally, since they depend on mineral composition and chemical characteristics of the soil affected. In this study, which focuses on caesium contamination, the well-established code PHREEQC was used as a geochemical model to calculate the changes in the ionic compositions of soil solutions, which result from the application of potassium or ammonium in batch equilibrium experiments. The simple ion exchange model used by PHREEQC was improved by taking into account selective sorption of Cs+, NH4+ and K+ by clay minerals. Calculations were performed with three different initial soil solution compositions, corresponding to particular soil types (loam, sand, peat). For loamy and sandy soils, our calculational results agree well with experimental data reported by Nisbet (Effectiveness of soil-based countermeasures six months and one year after contamination of five diverse soil types with caesium-134 and strontium-90. Contract Report NRPB-M546, National Radiation Protection Board, Chilton, 1995.). For peat, discrepancies were found indicating that for organic soils a reliable set of exchange constants of the relevant cations still has to be determined experimentally. For cesium, however, these discrepancies almost disappeared if selective sites were assumed to be inaccessible. Additionally, results of sensitivity analyses are presented by which the influence of the main soil parameters on Cs+ concentrations in solution after soil treatment has been systematically studied. It is shown that calculating the impacts of soil-based chemical countermeasures on soil solution chemistry using geochemical codes such as PHREEQC offers an attractive alternative to establishing these impacts by often time-consuming and site-specific experiments.     

Distribution of radionuclides in different parts of a mushroom: influence of the degree of maturity

Mushrooms are known to be bioaccumulators of radionuclides, but little is known about their distribution within the fruiting bodies or the influence of the degree of maturity on uptake. We carried out a series of cultures of the species Pleurotus eryngii under controlled laboratory conditions to analyze these variables. The maximal uptake of 134Cs and 85Sr was found to occur in mature fruiting bodies, and with the growth of the mushroom the distribution of radionuclides within the fruiting bodies became inhomogeneous. In particular, there was an exponential increase in the percentage of the total activity of 134Cs, 85Sr, and 60Co in the cap+gills as the fruiting bodies matured, accompanied by a complementary decrease in the stem. Radiocaesium, potassium, calcium, (239+240)Pu, (234,238)U, (228,230,232)Th, and 226Ra were assayed in the cap, gills, and stem of fruiting bodies of Tricholoma equestre collected in a natural ecosystem and cultured P. eryngii. Potassium and radiocaesium were mainly located in the cap+gills, and 226Ra in the gills. There was a disequilibrium between (230,232)Th and 228Th in the different parts of the fungi, probably due to uptake of 228Ra and subsequent decay to 228Th. Finally, the distribution pattern of (239+240)Pu, (234,238)U, and (230,232)Th seemed to be species dependent.     

Cryogenic Heaving of Peat and Peaty Soils

Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering - This article presents the results of experimental studies on the cryogenic heaving of peat and peaty soils under laboratory conditions. Peat with a water...     

Caesium-137 migration in Hungarian soils

Distribution of 137Cs activity concentration has been measured in soils from 19 Hungarian counties. The levels of soil contamination in Hungary after the Chernobyl fallout are sufficient to study the vertical distribution of the 137Cs under natural conditions. Samples were taken layer by layer on plain, grassy and uncultivated fields down to a depth of 20 cm. The results show that radiocaesium migrates very slowly in the soils investigated. The 137Cs concentration peaks in almost all of the soils remain in the top 5 cm layer, but the distribution patterns are different. Variations in diffusion, sorption-desorption, and complexing processes, plant uptake and plant- and animal-originated mechanical changes result in the formation of site-specific radionuclide distribution profiles. On the basis of the experimental data a model has been developed for the long-term prediction of the 137Cs migration. By application of an applied diffusion-convection model the results can be well fitted, the initial deposition can be calculated and the data can be used for the long-term prediction of the 137Cs distribution profile.     

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi mediated uptake of 137Cs in leek and ryegrass

In a first experiment of soil contaminated with 137Cs, inoculation with a mixture of arbuscular mycorrhizae enhanced the uptake of 137Cs by leek under greenhouse conditions, while no effect on the uptake by ryegrass was observed. The mycorrhizal infection frequency in leek was independent of whether the 137Cs-contaminated soil was inoculated with mycorrhizal spores or not. The lack of mycorrhizae-mediated uptake of 137Cs in ryegrass could be due to the high root density, which was about four times that of leek, or due to a less well functioning mycorrhizal symbiosis than of leek. In a second experiment, ryegrass was grown for a period of four cuts. Additions of fungi enhanced 137Cs uptake of all harvests, improved dry weight production in the first cut, and also improved the mycorrhizal infection frequencies in the roots. No differences were obtained between the two fungal inoculums investigated with respect to biomass production or 137Cs uptake, but root colonization differed. We conclude that, under certain circumstances, mycorrhizae affect plant uptake of 137Cs. There may be a potential for selecting fungal strains that stimulate 137Cs accumulation in crops. The use of ryegrass seems to be rather ineffective for remediation of 137Cs-contaminated soil.     

泥炭土的固结特性试验研究

沉降量大且沉降持续时间长是修建在泥炭土地基上的工程所面临的主要问题,而目前国内外学者对泥炭土固结特性的研究结果不尽一致。鉴于此,本文以云南某高速公路泥炭土路段为依托,参照一般土体的室内土工试验方法,对不同有机质含量的泥炭土进行了基本性质试验和一维蠕变试验。结果表明:有机质含量越高,泥炭土的次固结变形量越大。强泥炭质土和泥炭在不同压力下主固结完成时间较短,且基本不受固结压力的影响,这与淤泥质土的相应规律有较大差别。此外,先期固结压力对强泥炭质土和泥炭的次固结沉降速率有很大的影响,而且当荷载大于先期固结压力时,按照一般土体的试验方法进行一维固结试验所得强泥炭质土、泥炭的e-lgt曲线未出现反弯点。弱泥炭质土可参照一般软粘土的方法用e-lgt曲线确定次固结系数,其次固结系数随压力的变化规律与一般软土的变化规律一致,即次固结系数随固结压力先增大后减小。     

Uptake of radiocesium by mushrooms

After the Chernobyl accident in April 1986 the 134Cs, 137Cs and 40K activity of mushrooms of different genera and their corresponding soils from woods located in the province of Umbria (Italy) was determined. The results indicated: a temporally increasing trend for 137Cs up to a "limit value" depending on local fallout in 1986; different cesium concentrations in various mushroom genera; and uptake of potassium from soil that did not appear to compete with cesium uptake. No reliable correlation can be inferred between the cesium content of the soil and those of mushrooms.     

红黏土置换作用对水泥固化泥炭土强度的影响

针对红黏土置换后的泥炭土进行了水泥加固试验,并从宏观和微观两个角度对其固化机理展开了分析.研究表明:在含水率一定的条件下,固化泥炭土的无侧限抗压强度随红黏土置换率的提高呈先增大后减小的趋势;红黏土的置换作用一方面能够使其颗粒作为骨架填充固化土体的孔隙,另一方面在减少土体有机质含量的同时增加了Al元素含量,激发水化反应的活性并促进了钙矾石的生成.红黏土置换作用能够使泥炭土的絮状结构变得密实,颗粒连接和孔隙填充得到优化.     

Uptake of cations under two different water regimes in a boreal scots pine forest

There is still much to find out about how trees react to changing nutrient conditions. In this cation uptake study, 134Cs and 22Na were injected between the humus and the mineral soil, and into a 20-cm depth in the mineral soil, respectively. Half of the experimental site was subjected to desiccation in 1995 and 1996, while the other half was subjected to irrigation in 1995, and desiccation in 1996. One month after the injections, the concentration of 134Cs in the xylem sap was higher in the irrigated plots (ID) than in the desiccated plots (DD). In August 1995, the difference in the 134Cs concentration in the xylem sap was even higher between the treatments. In 1995, 22Na was also higher in the xylem sap on the ID plots than on the DD plots, but not significantly. Exponential relationships were found between the amount of 134Cs and 22Na in the xylem sap; the relative water uptake from humus and 0-10-cm mineral soil (134Cs); and 10-25-cm mineral soil (22Na) in July 1995, when the tracers had not yet reached the top of the boles. The relative uptake of injected 22Na was larger than that of injected 134Cs, probably due to low exchangeability of Cs in the soil. One year after the injection (1996), more 134Cs was found in the wood, bark, needles and cones on the plots irrigated in 1995 than on the desiccated plots. The content of 134Cs in the stem wood and stump amounted to nearly 80% of the total uptake in the trees. The Cs distribution 1 year after the Chernobyl accident was dominated by Cs on/in needles and bark. After 10 years of redistribution, the Chernobyl Cs content of the different parts of the trees approached that of K.     

137Cs in the fungal compartment of Swedish forest soils

The (137)Cs activities in soil profiles and in the mycelia of four ectomycorrhizal fungi were studied in a Swedish forest in an attempt to understand the mechanisms governing the transfer and retention of (137)Cs in forest soil. The biomass of four species of fungi was determined and estimated to be 16 g m(-2) in a peat soil and 47-189 g m(-2) in non-peat soil to the depth of 10 cm. The vertical distribution was rather homogeneous for two species (Tylospora spp. and Piloderma fallax) and very superficial for Hydnellum peckii. Most of the (137)Cs activity in mycelium of non-peat soils was found in the upper 5 cm. Transfer factors were quite high even for those species producing resupinate sporocarps. In the peat soil only approximately 0.3% of the total (137)Cs inventory in soil was found in the fungal mycelium. The corresponding values for non-peat soil were 1.3, 1.8 and 1.9%.     

Radiocaesium activity concentrations in the fruit-bodies of macrofungi in Great Britain and an assessment of dietary intake habits.

Radiocaesium activity concentrations in the fruit-bodies of some species of macrofungi are higher than in many other foodstuffs. The consumption of fruit-bodies contributes significantly to radiocaesium intake of humans in some countries. In the United Kingdom, the collection of wild fungi has generally been considered to be of minor importance and there are few data on consumption rates or radiocaesium activity concentrations in most edible species. Samples of commonly eaten species in Great Britain have been collected to assess radiocaesium contamination levels and geographical variation. Concurrently, surveys of consumption habits were conducted. A total of 425 samples representing 37 different species were collected. Significantly higher radiocaesium activity concentrations occurred in mycorrhizal compared to saprotrophic or parasitic species. The highest 137Cs activity concentration of 30.5 kBq kg-1 dry wt. was determined in a sample of Hydnum repandum collected in Wales. The transfer of radiocaesium from soil to fungal fruit-bodies was highly variable, ranging over three orders of magnitude within individual species. A number of approaches to quantifying radiocaesium transfer from soil to fungal fruit-bodies were used. Although these were in general agreement with previously measured values in other countries, all the approaches gave variable results. Over 200 people responded to the dietary habits questionnaire. The median intake rate was 0.75 kg year-1 (fresh wt.) and 60% of respondents consumed only one species (generally Agaricus campestris). However, intakes of up to 26 kg year-1 were recorded and a total of 82 species were consumed. The intake of 137Cs was determined by the amount of mycorrhizal fungi in the diet rather than the total intake of fungi. Assuming median recorded 137Cs activity concentrations in each fungal species, the estimated annual committed effective dose for over 95% of respondents was < 1 microSv. Hence, currently, the consumption of wild fungi in the UK would not be expected to significantly increase the dose above that attributable to the normal diet of most consumers. However, the results of this study demonstrate that, in the event of any future accidental release of radiocaesium, the potential ingestion dose received from the consumption of wild fungi would need to be considered.     

利用微生物技术改良泥炭土工程性质试验研究

提出利用微生物技术制备原生菌高浓度菌液,用来加快土中有机质分解速率,实现在较短时间内显著降低有机质含量、改善土的工程性质的目的。为验证其可行性,从昆明市2个场地采取了泥炭土样,研发了2套模型装置,分别模拟厌氧、好氧环境下泥炭土有机质分解过程,并测试分析了分解后泥炭土的烧失量、界限含水率及一维固结蠕变特性。试验结果表明:厌氧环境下,菌液浸泡的泥炭土生物气产量比纯水浸泡的有大幅度提高,其产气动力学特征符合修正Gompertz模型。好氧环境下,分解30 d左右时,2个场地泥炭土烧失量分别减少了10.3%和15.6%,减少量比厌氧环境下的大。界限含水率试验表明,泥炭土液限随微生物分解反应时间的增长有所降低,而塑限变化幅度不大。一维固结蠕变试验表明,有机质分解后的泥炭土次固结系数下降,分解时间越长,次固结系数下降越显著。对新技术的特点进行了分析,并对其理论及应用研究进行了展望;该技术有望发展为一项生态友好型的泥炭土地基新型处理方法,改良泥炭土有望成为微生物岩土技术一个潜在应用领域。     

Comparing in situ distribution coefficients and exchangeability of radiocaesium in freshwater sediments with laboratory predictions

Two short-term (24 h) laboratory procedures, based on measurement of the affinity and capacity of the specific binding sites for radiocaesium on illitic clay minerals, are used to predict the in situ 137Cs distribution coefficients (KD) in two Dutch freshwater sediments. Differences in the measured amount of specific binding sites between the sediments are shown to be related to differences in the particle size and illite content. A procedure based on measurement of the combined parameter KD[NH4+] predicts the measured in situ 137Cs distribution in both sediments very well. This is remarkable because the in situ data are based on 137Cs/sediment contact times of > 1 year, while previous experiments have shown that increasing contact times between Cs+ and sediments decreases the short-term exchangeability of caesium, as measured by extraction with a high ammonium concentration. The good predictions of the 37Cs solid/water distribution by short-term ion-exchange experiments, therefore, indicate that more 137Cs in the sediments is exchangeable than is measured by the commonly used extraction with high ammonium concentrations.     

Transfer of 137Cs from Chernobyl debris and nuclear weapons fallout to different Swedish population groups

Data from measurements on the body burden of ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs and ⁴⁰K in various Swedish populations between 1959 and 2001 has been compiled into a national database. The compilation is a co-operation between the Departments of Radiation Physics in Malmö and Göteborg, the National Radiation Protection Authority (SSI) and the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI). In a previous study the effective ecological half time and the associated effective dose to various Swedish populations due to internal contamination of ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs have been assessed using the database. In this study values of human body burden have been combined with data on the local and regional ground deposition of fallout from nuclear weapons tests (only ¹³⁷Cs) and Chernobyl debris (both ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs), which have enabled estimates of the radioecological transfer in the studied populations.The assessment of the database shows that the transfer of radiocesium from Chernobyl fallout to humans varies considerably between various populations in Sweden. In terms of committed effective dose over a 70 y period from internal contamination per unit activity deposition, the general (predominantly urban) Swedish population obtains 20-30 μSv/kBq m^− 2. Four categories of populations exhibit higher radioecological transfer than the general population; i.) reindeer herders (∼700 μSv/kBq m^− 2), ii.) hunters in the counties dominated by forest vegetation (∼100 μSv/kBq m^− 2), iii.) rural non-farming populations living in sub-arctic areas (40-150 μSv/kBq m^− 2), and iv.) farmers (∼50 μSv/kBq m^− 2). Two important factors determine the aggregate transfer from ground deposition to man; i.) dietary habits (intakes of foodstuff originating from natural and semi-natural ecosystems), and ii.) inclination to follow the recommended food restriction by the authorities. The transfer to the general population is considerably lower (∼a factor of 3) for the Chernobyl fallout than during the 1960s and 70s, which is partly explained by a higher awareness of the pathways of radiocaesium to man both by the public and by the regulating authorities, and by the time-pattern of the nuclear weapons fallout during the growth season in Sweden.