Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy of Plutonium Particles at the Rocky Flats US Nuclear Weapons Production Site

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Actinide Nanoparticle Research

Abstract

The Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) was a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) environmental cleanup site located about 15 miles northwest of downtown Denver. Nearly 40 years of nuclear weapons production had left behind a legacy of contaminated facilities, soils, surface and groundwater. Ultrafiltration studies had shown that plutonium was associated with particles. We employed X-ray absorption spectroscopy to demonstrate that plutonium in soils at the Site was in the insoluble chemical form of PuO2. This information coupled with ultrafiltration studies was used to make the case for particle transport mechanisms as the basis of plutonium and americium mobility, rather than aqueous solubility processes, and established a successful scientific basis for the dominance of physical transport processes by wind and water. This understanding allowed Site contractors to rapidly move to application of soil erosion and sediment transport models as the means of predicting plutonium and americium transport, which led to design and application of site-wide soil erosion control technology to help control downstream concentrations of plutonium and americium in streamflow. Good scientific understanding in the public interest helped the most extensive cleanup in the history of Superfund legislation to finish 1 year ahead of schedule, ultimately resulting in billions of dollars in taxpayer savings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. DOE, “Final Phase II RCRA Facility Investigation/Remedial Investigation Report, 903 Pad, Mound, and East Trenches Area, Operable Unit No. 2” Tech. Report No. RF/ER-95-0079.UN (US Department of Energy, Rocky Flats Plant, 1995).

    Google Scholar 

  2. DOE, “Baseline Environmental Management Report” (US Department of Energy, Environmental Management, 1995).

    Google Scholar 

  3. GAO, “Nuclear Cleanup of Rocky Flats. DOE Can Use Lessons Learned to Improve Oversight of Other Sites’ Cleanup Activities” Tech. Report No. GAO-06-352 (US Government Accountability Office, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  4. “Actinide Migration Evaluation Pathway Analysis Summary Report” Tech. Report No. ER-108 (Kaiser-Hill, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, 2002).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hurr, R. T., “Hydrology of a Nuclear-Processing Plant Site, Rocky Flats” Tech. Report No. Open File Report 76-268 (U.S. Geological Survey, 1976).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Myers, J. C., Geostatistical error management; quantifying uncertainty for environmental sampling and mapping, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Litaor, M. I., Barth, G. R., and Zika, E. M., J. Environ. Qual., 1996. 25(4): p. 671–683.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Runde, W., and Neu, M. P.; in The chemistry of the actinide and transactinide elements, L.R. Morss, N.M. Edelstein, and J. Fuger, Editors. Volume 6, Springer, Heidelberg, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Langmuir, D., Aqeuous environmental geochemistry, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1997, 600 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Harnish, R. A., McKnight, D. M., and Ranville, J. F. Particulate, colloidal, and dissolved-phase associations of plutonium and americium in a water sample from well 1587 at the Rocky Flats Plant, Colorado, Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA., Report 1994, 32 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Knopp, R., Neck, V., and Kim, J. I., Radiochim. Acta, 1999. 86(3–4): pp. 101–108.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kersting, A. B., Efurd, D. W., Finnegan, D. L., Rokop, D. J., Smith, D. K., and Thompson, J. L., Nature (London), 1999. 397(6714): pp. 56–59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Salbu, B., J. Environ. Radioact., 2007. 96: pp. 47–53.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lind, O. C., Salbu, B., Janssens, K., Proost, K., García-León, M., García-Tenorio, R., Sci. Total Environ., 2007. 376: pp. 294–305.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Hayden, J., DeHerrera, M., and Stewart, C., Particle size distribution of Plutonium on soil in Rocky Flats East buffer zone, Rockwell International, Report 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Buddemeier, R. W., and Hunt, J. R., Appl.Geochem., 1988. 3(5): pp. 535–548.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Santschi, P. H., Roberts, K. A., and Guo, L., Environ. Sci. Technol., 2002. 36(17): pp. 3711–3719.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Shaw, D. J., Colloid and surface chemistry, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Stumm, W., Chemistry of the solid-water interface: processes at the mineral-water and particle-water interface in natural systems, Wiley, New York, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Clark, D. L., Janecky, D. R., and Lane, L. J., Phys. Today, 2006. 59(9): pp. 34–40.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Conradson, S. D., Appl. Spectrosc., 1998. 52(7): pp. 252A–279A.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Conradson, S. D., Abney, K. D., Begg, B. D., Brady, E. D., Clark, D. L., den Auwer, C., Ding, M., Dorhout, P. K., Espinosa-Faller, F. J., Gordon, P. L., Haire, R. G., Hess, N. J., Hess, R. F., Keogh, D. W., Lander, G. H., Lupinetti, A. J., Morales, L. A., Neu, M. P., Palmer, P. D., Paviet-Hartmann, P., Reilly, S. D., Runde, W. H., Tait, C. D., Veirs, D. K., and Wastin, F., Inorg. Chem., 2004. 43(1): pp. 116–131.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Conradson, S. D., Begg, B. D., Clark, D. L., den Auwer, C., Ding, M., Dorhout, P. K., Espinosa-Faller, F. J., Gordon, P. L., Haire, R. G., Hess, N. J., Hess, R. F., Keogh, D. W., Morales, L. A., Neu, M. P., Paviet-Hartmann, P., Runde, W., Tait, C. D., Veirs, D. K., and Villella, P. M., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2004. 126(41): pp. 13443–13458.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Conradson, S. D., Begg, B. D., Clark, D. L., den Auwer, C., Espinosa-Faller, F. J., Gordon, P. L., Hess, N. J., Hess, R., Keogh, D. W., Morales, L. A., Neu, M. P., Runde, W., Tait, C. D., Veirs, D. K., and Villella, P. M., Inorg. Chem., 2003. 42(12): pp. 3715–3717.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Ding, M., Conca, J. L., den Auwer, C., Gabitov, R. I., Hess, N. J., Paviet-Hartmann, P., Palmer, P. D., LoPresti, V., and Conradson, S. D., Radiochim. Acta, 2006. 94(5): pp. 249–259.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Koningsberger, D. C., Prins, R., X-ray absorption: principles and techniques of EXAFS, SEXAFS AND XANES, Wiley, New York, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Teo, B.T., EXAFS: basic principles and data analysis, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1986, 349 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Conradson, S. D., Begg, B. D., Clark, D. L., den Auwer, C., Mei, D., Dorhout, P. K., Espinosa-Faller, F. J., Gordon, P. L., Haire, R. G., Hess, N. J., Hess, R. F., Keogh, D. W., Lander, G. H., Manara, D., Morales, L. A., Neu, M. P., Paviet-Hartmann, P., Rebizant, J., Rondinella, V. V., Runde, W., Tait, C. D., Veirs, D. K., Villela, P. M., and Wastin, F., J. Solid State Chem., 2005. 178(2): pp. 521–535.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Martin, P., Grandjean, S., Ripert, M., Freyss, M., Blanc, P., and Petit, T., J. Nucl. Mater., 2003. 320(1–2): pp. 138–141.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Rothe, J., Walther, C., Denecke, M. A., and Fanghanel, T., Inorg. Chem., 2004. 43(15): pp. 4708–4718.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Kaiser-Hill LLC and DOE for their support of AME studies, and we acknowledge the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, and the Office of Biological and Environmental Research at the U.S. Department of Energy for their support of actinide science and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource that assisted RFETS cleanup activities.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA

    Steven D. Conradson, David L. Clark & Juan S. Lezama-Pacheco

  2. Commissariat al’Energie Atomic Marcoule, 30207, Bagnols-sur-Ceze Cedex, France

    Christophe den Auwer

  3. CINVESTAV-Mérida, Mérida, Yucatán, 97310, México

    Juan S. Lezama-Pacheco

Authors
  1. Steven D. Conradson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David L. Clark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Christophe den Auwer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Juan S. Lezama-Pacheco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven D. Conradson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1/3, Moskva, 119992, Russian Federation

    Stepan N. Kalmykov

  2. Inst. Nukleare Entsorgungstechnik, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Melissa A. Denecke

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Conradson, S.D., Clark, D.L., den Auwer, C., Lezama-Pacheco, J.S. (2011). X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy of Plutonium Particles at the Rocky Flats US Nuclear Weapons Production Site. In: Kalmykov, S., Denecke, M. (eds) Actinide Nanoparticle Research. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11432-8_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation