Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 54, Issue 2, Pages 797-806Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b04828
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Funding
- PF NEEDS Environnement (Andra)
- PF NEEDS Environnement (CNRS)
- PF NEEDS Environnement (EDF)
- PF NEEDS Environnement (IRSN)
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Stable Pb isotope ratios were measured and compared to U distributions in three soil cores located in a wetland highly impacted by water discharge of a former U-mine. Pb isotope ratios showed notable alignments in binary mixing plots, demonstrating the dissemination of radioactive-enriched material from the U-mine. Thanks to these alignments and to the measurement of the Pb-204 isotope, a precise characterization of the Pb isotope composition of the U-ore was performed without the use of U-ore samples. The well-defined end-members with the help of a reevaluated isotope mixing model allowed the accurate determination of the radiogenic Pb percentages in the cores that were overall found to be >50%. Noncorrelated distributions of radiogenic Pb-206 and U are observed in several of the wetland soil samples. They reveal postdepositional U redistribution explained by major U speciation changes due to redox cycling in the wetland. On the contrary, the radiogenic Pb-206 showed no or little postdepositional mobility and thus can be considered to be a memory tracer of the dissemination of U-rich radioactive material: even after an important U loss, the radiogenic Pb-206 is able to reveal past contamination by U-rich materials.
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