TREATMENTS FOR FARMLAND CONTAMINATED 

 WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL 



By R. G. Menzel and P. E. James ' 



This handbook presents information on the ef- 

 fectiveness and feasibility of various treatments 

 for farmland that has been contaminated with 

 radioactive material. Two kinds of treatments 

 are evaluated. The first kind, which may be called 

 decontamination, includes methods of removing 

 radioactive material from farmland. Tlie second 

 kind includes methods of treating land to reduce 

 the uptake of radioactive materials by crops with- 

 out decontaminating. Alternatives to treating 

 contaminated land are discussed to give a broader 

 perspective on the techniques of managing con- 

 taminated land. 



There are many possible sources of radioactive 

 material that could contaminate farmland, rang- 

 ing from widespread fallout from the explosion 

 of nuclear weapons to a very limited spread from 

 a transportation accident involving radioactive 

 material. The explosion of nuclear weapons could 

 result in contamination of thousands of square 

 miles. Contamination from a very severe reactor 

 accident might aft'ect several hundred square 

 miles. In transportation accidents the contami- 

 nated area would probably be less than one acre. 



A decision to treat the contaminated area will 

 require consideration of several complex factors, 

 including (a) the immediate and long-term haz- 

 ard presented bj' the location and nature of the 

 radioactive material, (b) the hazard likely to re- 

 luain after treatment, (c) other consequences of 

 the treatment, such as radiation exposures to the 

 persons carrying out the treatment and changes 

 in productivity of the treated land, and (d) the 

 availability of machinerj- and nnvnpower for 

 treatment. It may be unnecessary to treat contami- 



' Respectively, .soil .scientist, Soil and Water Conserva- 

 tion Research Division, and agricultural engineer, Agri- 

 cultural Engineering Research Division, Agricultural Re- 

 .search Service, Beltsville, Md., 20705. This study was 

 supported in part by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. 



nated land if the radioactive material is short- 

 lived and the area can be isolated until it decays. 

 If the area of contamination is large, the quan- 

 tity of readily available resources might he lack- 

 ing for desirable treatment of all areas at once. 

 In that case, careful judgment will be required 

 to recommend which areas sliould be treated first 

 and what methods should be used. 



Since the choice of treatment may depend on 

 the objectives of treating any given area of con- 

 tamination, it is necessary to define the objectives 

 clearly. These could be one or more of the fol- 

 lowing: (a) Preventing spread of the radioactive 

 material to other areas; (b) reducing the radi- 

 ation hazard to persons who must live or work 

 in the area; and (c) reducing the entry of the 

 radioactive material into food products derived 

 from the contaminated land. Some treatments are 

 better suited to one objective than to another. 



The urgency of treatment would likewise de- 

 pend on the objectives. Immediate action might 

 l)e essential for preventing spread of radioactiv- 

 ity or reducing the radiation hazard, but not 

 for reducing the radioactivity in crops. Immedi- 

 ate action might increase greatly the radiation 

 exposures to the persons carrying out the treat- 

 ment. In each case of contamination, the hazards 

 of immediate treatment should be balanced 

 against those of delaying or forgoing treatment. 



In many cases, the main objective of treating 

 contaminated farmland would be to reduce the 

 entry of radioactive material into food products. 

 This would be true if relatively long-lived and 

 biologically active radionuclides, such as cal- 

 cium-45, zinc-65, strontium-89, or strontium-90, 

 were present in appreciable quantities. In fall- 

 out from nuclear explosions the strontium radio- 

 nuclides are very important (7).^ Since they 



' Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature 

 Cited, p. 15. 



