super(90)Sr Migration to the Geo-sphere from a Waste Burial in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Processes controlling strontium 90 release from a shallow trench containing nuclear fuel particles, and subsequent radionuclide transport in the underlying sandy aquifer at the Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear power plant site are being investigated. Leaching tests and analyses of waste material show that 10-30% of the radioactive inventory is associated with chemically extra-stable zirconium-uranium-oxygen particles, and the greatest fraction of super(90)Sr activity in the trench is associated with relatively slowly dissolving non-oxidized uranium dioxide matrix fuel particles. The super(90)Sr migration velocity in the aeolian sand aquifer is retarded by sorption to about 9% of groundwater flow velocity.