Comparison of 241Am, (239,240)Pu and 137Cs concentrations in soil around rocky flats

Abstract

Gamma spectroscopy measurements were used to estimate concentrations of 241Am and 137Cs in soil profiles to depths of 21 cm at on-site and off-site locations around the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site and at regional background locations east of the Front Range between Colorado's borders with New Mexico and Wyoming. Concentrations of these radionuclides were compared with concentrations of (239,240)Pu in the same samples. Concentrations of 241Am in soil from depths of 0 to 3 cm decreased in an easterly direction from more than 5.3 kBq kg(-1) near the 903 pad to background levels of 1.3 Bq kg(-1) 5 to 7 km away at a rate that was nearly proportional to the inverse square of distance. Deposits of 137Cs were ubiquitous, averaging 0.12 kBq kg(-1) in soil from depths of 0 to 3 cm, but were unevenly distributed around Rocky Flats and the regional background locations. Deviations from the uniform exponential rate at which soil concentrations of 137Cs typically decreased with depth, -0.25 cm(-1) at undisturbed sites, enabled us to determine that about 10% of our sampling sites had been disturbed by erosion, tillage, or other factors. The mean rate at which (239,240)Pu decreased with depth was about the same, -0.23 cm(-1), throughout the study area. Soil concentrations of 241Am decreased with depth at a similar mean rate of -0.22 cm(-1) at locations close to the 903 pad where measurements were robust. Ratios between 241Am or (239,240)Pu and 137Cs proved more useful for delineating the extent and pattern of contamination from Rocky Flats than did activity concentrations in soil.