Abstract
In the hydrosphere, transport of artificial radionuclides is affected by sorption onto solid phase. The radionuclide allocation between the solid and water phase caused by sorption is characterized by the distribution coefficient.
In this study, distribution coefficients are determined for selected radionuclides in sediment-water and suspended solids-water interphase using batch experimental method. It was found that the distribution coefficients can vary of several orders of magnitude, depending on the sort of the radionuclide and on the site of the experimental material origin.
Some radionuclides (e. g. 60Co) are absorbed easily and it can be supposed that they would be almost completely removed from water as a consequence of their fixation onto the solid phase and sedimentation of the suspended solids in reservoirs. On the other hand, the radionuclides of lower sorption (e. g. 85Sr) will not be retained and the might cause contamination of larger parts of the river.