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Migration of plutonium in ground water at the Nevada Test Site

Nature volume 397, pages 56–59 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Mobile colloids—suspended particles in the submicrometre size range—are known to occur naturally in ground water1, 2 and have the potential to enhance transport of non-soluble contaminants through sorption3. The possible implications of this transport mechanism are of particular concern in the context of radionuclide transport. Significant quantities of the element plutonium have been introduced into the environment as a result of nuclear weapons testing and production, and nuclear power-plant accidents. Moreover, many countries anticipate storing nuclear waste underground. It has been argued that plutonium introduced into the subsurface environment is relatively immobile owing to its low solubility in ground water4 and strong sorption onto rocks5. Nonetheless, colloid-facilitated transport of radionuclides has been implicated in field observations6, 7, but unequivocal evidence of subsurface transport is lacking3, 8, 9. Moreover, colloid filtration models predict transport over a limited distance resulting in a discrepancy between observed and modelled behaviour3. Here we report that the radionuclides observed in groundwater samples from aquifers at the Nevada Test Site, where hundreds of underground nuclear tests were conducted, are associated with the colloidal fraction of the ground water. The 240 Pu/239 Pu isotope ratio of the samples establishes that an underground nuclear test 1.3 km north of the sample site is the origin of the plutonium. We argue that colloidal groundwater migration must have played an important role in transporting the plutonium. Models that either predict limited transport or do not allow for colloid-facilitated transport may thus significantly underestimate the extent of radionuclide migration.

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Figure 1: Location and geology of the study area.
Figure 2: Comparison of radioactivity detected in unfiltered groundwater samples from ER-20-5 well cluster.
Figure 3: Radioactivity of the colloidal minerals and comparison of Pu isotope ratios from ER-20-5 ground waters to other nuclear tests.
Figure 4: High-resolution SEM images of the colloids in ER-20-5 no.1.

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Acknowledgements

We thank B. A. Martinez, F. R. Roensch, J. W. Chamberlin and G. P. Russ for help with sample analysis, and I. R. Triay, B. E. Viani, R. W. Lougheed, H. F. Shaw, F. J. Ryerson, J. F. Wild and G.B. Hudson for discussions. This work was funded partly by the Underground Test Area Project sponsored by US Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office. Work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Isotope Sciences Division, PO Box 808, L-231

    A. B. Kersting & D. K. Smith

  2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, 94550, California, USA

    A. B. Kersting & D. K. Smith

  3. Chemical Science and Technology Division MS J514, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, 87545, New Mexico, USA

    D. W. Efurd, D. L. Finnegan, D. J. Rokop & J. L. Thompson

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Correspondence to A. B. Kersting.

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Kersting, A., Efurd, D., Finnegan, D. et al. Migration of plutonium in ground water at the Nevada Test Site. Nature 397, 56–59 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/16231

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