Estimation of uranium and cobalt-60 distribution coefficients and uranium-235 enrichment at the Combustion Engineering Company site in Windsor, Connecticut

Site-specific distribution coefficients for uranium isotopes and cobalt-60 (Co-60) and the fraction of uranium-235 (U-235) enrichment by mass were estimated for environmental samples collected from the Combustion Engineering Company site in Windsor, CT. This site has been identified for remedial action under the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The authority of DOE at the Combustion Engineering site is limited to (1) Building 3; (2) other activities or areas associated exclusively with Building 3 (such as sewer lines); or (3) contamination that is exclusively highly enriched uranium. In this study, 16 samples were collected from the Combustion Engineering site, including 8 soil, 4 sediment, 3 water, and 1 water plus sludge sample. These samples were analyzed for isotopic uranium by alpha spectrometry and for Co-60 by gamma spectrometry. The site-specific distribution coefficient for each isotope was estimated as the ratio of extractable radionuclide activity in the solid phase to the activity in the contact solution following a 19-day equilibration. The uranium activity measurements indicate that uranium-234 (U-234) and uranium-238 (U-238) were in secular equilibrium in two soil samples and that soil and sediment samples collected from other sampling locations had higher U-234 activity than U-238 activity in both the solid and solution phases. The site-specific distribution coefficient (Kd) ranged from 82 to 44,600 mL/g for U-238 and from 102 to 65,900 mL/g for U-234. Calculation of U-235 enrichment by mass indicated that four soil samples had values greater than 0.20; these values were 0.37, 0.38, 0.46, and 0.68. Cobalt-60 activity was detected in only three sediment samples. The measured Co-60 activity in the solid phase ranged from 0.15 to 0.45 pCi/g and that in the water phase of all three samples combined was 4 pCi/L. The Kd value for Co-60 in the site brook sediment was calculated to be 70 mL/g