Actinide Behavior in a Freshwater Pond

Long-term investigations of solution chemistry in an alkaline freshwater pond have revealed that actinide oxidation state behavior, particularly that of plutonium, is complex. The Pu(V,VI) fraction was predominant in solution, but it varied over the entire range reported from other natural aquatic environments, in this case, as a result of intrinsic biological and chemical cycles (redox and pH-dependent phenomena). A strong positive correlation between plutonium (Pu), but not uranium (U), and hydroxyl ion over the observation period, especially when both were known to be in higher oxidation states, was particularly notable. Coupled with other examples of divergent U and Pu behavior, this result suggests that Pu(V), or perhaps a mixture of Pu(V,VI), was the prevalent oxidation state in solution. Observations of trivalent actinide sorption behavior during an algal bloom, coupled with the association with a high-molecular weight (nominally 6000 to 10,000 mol wt) organic fraction in solution, indicate that solution-detritus cycling of organic carbon, in turn, may be the primary mechanism in amercium-curium (Am-Cm) cycling. Sorption by sedimentary materials appears to predominate over other factors controlling effective actinide solubility and may explain, at least partially, the absence of an expected strong positive correlation between carbonate and dissolved U. 49 references, 6 figures, 12 tables