Testing Amendments for Increasing Soil Availability of Radionuclides

Abstract

Phytoextraction has been shown to be potentially feasible for some radionuclides. It is, however, likely that soil amendments will be needed to make contaminant radionuclides sufficiently available for plant uptake over the long time-scales likely to be required for phytoextraction. A method is described here for investigating the effect of soil amendments on the long-term uptake of 137Cs in a laboratory trial. The method described uses large containers filled with artificially contaminated soil, which are harvested at 8-wk intervals and then replanted. Consideration is also given to applying this method to other radionuclides.