390 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1963 



PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHIC ASPECTS 



Wliat is the fate of wastes that have been released into the ocean ? 

 It depends on : chemical and physical forms in which the materials 

 are introduced and changes that occur when the wastes are added to 

 sea water; initial dilution of liquid wastes as they mix to attain the 

 density of the surrounding sea waters ; dispersal of wastes away from 

 the area of introduction with related turbulent diffusion ; and uptake 

 and concentration of any contained radioactivity on silt, sediments, 

 and biota. 



The form of wastes after they have mixed with sea water will vary, 

 depending on chemical composition; but three principal categories 

 of chemical form may be expected: ionic, colloidal, and particulate. 

 Consideration of the ultimate distribution of wastes must include eval- 

 uation of three chemical forms. In 1954, A. E. Greendale and N. E. 

 Ballou tabulated the physical states of elements following detona- 

 tion of an atomic device. Since this tabulation compares favorably 

 with other nuclear wastes, their table is reproduced here. 



PHYSICAL STATES OF ELEMENTS IN SEA WATER 



(Percentage in given state) 



Element Ionic Colloidal Particulate 



Antimony 73 15 12 



Cerium 2 4 94 



Cesium 70 7 23 



Iodine 90 8 2 



Molybdenum 30 10 60 



Niobium 100 



Ruthenium 5 95 



Strontium 87 3 10 



Tellurium 45 43 12 



Yittrium 4 96 



Zirconium 13 96 



Those elements, such as strontium, cesium, and iodine, that are 

 principally in ionic form, should go into solution in the ocean and 

 follow pathways and residence times that are equivalent to those of 

 other solutes in sea water. Surface currents and diffusion preclude 

 the accumulation of "hot spots" of radioactivity after its initial dis- 

 persion into the ocean. 



Since stable strontium is an abundant element in the ocean, radio- 

 strontium will be diluted by the stable isotope. Any uptake of radio- 

 strontium by organisms will be in competition with uptake of the 

 stable isotope. The result, as demonstrated by studies following 

 nuclear bomb tests, is that there is no evident accumulation of radio- 

 active strontium in marine fishery organisms. A few days after 

 large releases of strontium 90, it was difficult to locate the isotope even 

 with precise chemical separations of sea water, according to F. G. 



