Sediment and radionuclide transport in rivers. Phase I: field sampling program during mean flow Cattaraugus and Buttermilk Creeks, New York

A field sampling program was conducted on Cattaraugus and Buttermilk Creeks, New York during November and December 1977 to investigate the transport of radionuclides in surface waters as part of a continuing program to provide data for application and verification of Pacific Northwest Laboratory's (PNL) sediment and radionuclide transport model, SERATRA. Suspended sediment, bed sediment, and water samples were collected during mean flow conditions over a 45 mile reach of stream channel. Radiological analysis of these samples included primarily gamma ray emitters; however, some plutonium, strontium, curium, and tritium analyses were also included. The principal gamma emitter found during the sampling program was /sup 137/Cs where, in some cases, levels associated with the sand and clay size fractions of bed sediment exceeded 100 pCi/g. Elevated levels of /sup 137/Cs and /sup 90/Sr were found downstream of the Nuclear Fuel Services Center, an inactive plutonium reprocessing plant and low level nuclear waste disposal site. Based on radionuclide levels in upstream control stations, /sup 137/Cs was the only radionuclide whose levels in the creeks downstream of the site could confidently be attributed to the site during this sampling program. This field sampling effort is the first of a three phase program to collect data during low, medium and high flow conditions