312 TRANSURANIC ELEMENTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT 



Plutonium in Oak Ridge and Los Alamos Environments 



Rates of plutonium releases to the Oak Ridge and Los Alamos environs during the study 

 period and resulting concentrations in abiotic components are summarized in Table 1 . 

 The release of plutonium to the atmosphere at Oak Ridge was considerably less than that 

 at Los Alamos, and ambient plutonium in air reflects the higher release rate at Los 

 Alamos. However, these concentrations in air are not easily distinguished from plutonium 

 in air originating from global fallout (Bennett, 1976). 



The quantity of plutonium released to surface water is similar at both sites, but the 

 source of plutonium entering the drainage systems is different. At Oak Ridge release from 

 routine operations is negligible; most of the plutonium in surface water originates from 

 contaminated locations in the White Oak Drainage (WOD). At Los Alamos routine release 

 of plutonium in treated liquid waste accounts for nearly all the plutonium entering 

 Mortandad Canyon (Hakonson, Johnson, and Purtymun, 1973). 



TABLE 1 Plutonium in the Oak Ridge and Los Alamos Environments*! 



*Total plutonium includes the 238, 239, and 240 nuclides. Prior to 1968 the plutonium released 

 to Mortandad Canyon was 2 3 9,24opy ^-^^q jj^at time ^^^Pu has been the dominant isotope. The 



present 



Pu/ 



2 3 9 >24 



Pu activity ratio is 3 : 1. The predominant isotope released to the Oak Ridge 



floodpiain is ^ 3' ''""Pu. 



fData for Oak Ridge obtained from Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division (1976), Oakes 

 and Shank (1977), Dahlman and McLeod (1977), and Bondietti and Sweeton (1977); for Los Alamos 

 from Herceg (1973), and Schiager and Apt (1974). The data matrix is obviously incomplete in terms 

 of measurements for certain components and in terms of estimates of errors. The values presented 

 represent single measurements, averages of a few measurements (accompanied by high variances), and 

 summations or products of several measurements. Accordingly, the inclusion of error estimates was 

 not considered practical. The reader is referred to original data sources where additional information 

 on variability is provided. 



JNA, not applicable. 



§NM, not measured. 



H Represents total release from three plant areas to three different surface streams; value is based 

 on total alpha analysis but excludes uranium and thorium and includes other transuranium elements. 



**Not detectable in 350-m^ air samples where the minimum detectable level is 40 fCi per sample; 

 air sampled in the 0- to 10-cm zone contained 0.14 fCi/m^ under ambient conditions; air samples at 

 1-m height during soil cultivation contained 26.3 fCi/m^ . 



tfWater collected from White Oak Lake at the point of discharge, which is approximately 2 km 

 below the floodpiain site. 



i|:$ND, not determined. 



