Abstract
AbstractDevelopment of chemical treatments to immobilize 90Sr in soil to prevent its leaching from radioactive waste disposed in shallow land burial sites is highly desirable. Six in situ carbonate‐precipitating treatments, varying the amounts of carbonate, alkaline earth cation (Ca or Ba as chlorides), and order of addition were examined for their ability to immobilize radiostrontium in laboratory soil columns. The Na2CO3‐followed by CaCl2‐treatment was most consistently successful at reducing the teachability of radiostrontium by 0.05M CaCl2 from three low organic matter‐acid soils, immobilizing as much as 53% of added radiostrontium. For the high organic matter‐slightly acid soil, Na2CO3 alone, without supplemental Ca or Ba, resulted in the best immobilization (39%); dissolution of soil organic matter and the alkalinity‐induced aggregate dispersion probably interfered with CaCO3 and/or BaCO3 precipitation. Success of the treatments is based primarily on their ability to generate, in situ, Ca(Sr,Mg)CO3 or Ba(Ca,Mg,Sr)CO3 precipitates that exchange radiostrontium very slowly with eluting Ca ions. Allied tests with 137Cs, which is commonly codisposed with 90Sr, indicated that the treatments described did not interfere with the natural tendency of the selected soils to fix 137Cs strongly.
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