title: Detection of tritium sorption on four soil materials.
abstract: In order to measure groundwater age and design nuclear waste disposal sites, it is important to understand the sorption behavior of tritium on soils. In this study, batch tests were carried out using four soils from China: silty clays from An County and Jiangyou County in Sichuan Province, both of which could be considered candidate sites for Very Low Level Waste disposal; silty sand from Beijing; and loess from Yuci County in Shanxi Province, a typical Chinese loess region. The experimental results indicated that in these soil media, the distribution coefficient of tritium is slightly influenced by adsorption time, water/solid ratio, initial tritium specific activity, pH, and the content of humic and fulvic acids. The average distribution coefficient from all of these influencing factors was about 0.1-0.2 mL/g for the four types of soil samples. This relatively modest sorption of tritium in soils needs to be considered in fate and transport studies of tritium in the environment.
authors.affiliation: College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yanguo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: Jinsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qinhong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Zongjian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ni
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001578:Benzopyrans / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D006812:Humic Substances / Q000032:analysis; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors; D014316:Tritium / Q000032:analysis*; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D001578:Benzopyrans; D006812:Humic Substances; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D012987:Soil; D014867:Water; D014316:Tritium; C005023:fulvic acid