Potential plutonium remobilisation linked to marine sediment resuspension: First estimates based on flume experiments

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10/02/2006

Bruno Lansard (a), Christian Grenz (a), Sabine Charmasson (b), Estelle Schaaff (a), Christel Pinazo (a)

Journal of Sea Research 55 (2006) 74

Type de document > *Article de revue
Mots clés publication scientifique > eaux douces/de mer , plutonium , sédiment
Unité de recherche > IRSN/DEI/SESURE/LERCM
Auteurs > CHARMASSON Sabine

In coastal environments, resuspension is a key issue regarding contaminant remobilisation from the sediments. A firs attempt to quantify both sedimentary bed erosion and related plutonium isotope remobilisation from eroded particles was carried out through flume experiments. Erosion fluxes under controlled hydrodynamic stresses and their resulting plutonium remobilisation were measured for cohesive sediments sampled at several locations (8 to 97 m depth) near the Rhone river mouth (North-western Mediterranean Sea). Surface sediments were characterised in terms of plutonium content (238Pu and 239,240Pu) and particle size distribution. Laboratory resuspension experiments were performed under realistic hydrodynamic conditions
close to those prevailing in coastal zones. Critical shear stresses of erosion ranged between 0.068 and 0.087 N m-2 whereas erosion rate varied within a factor of 3 (57–176 g m-2 h-1). After 1 hour of resuspension, the plutonium activity increased in the seawater particulate phase by factors ranging from 2 to 14, depending on the site at which the sediment was sampled. Plutonium fluxes ranged between 2 and 56 mBq m-2 h-1 for 239,240Pu depending on location. The highest fluxes were measured for sediments from the deepest site, where the highest Pu activities and mud content were found. During our resuspension experiments, no significant increase was found in dissolved Pu activities. These laboratory experiments have provided a unique opportunity to investigate the behaviour of plutonium at the sediment-water interface in a coastal environment. They emphasised the importance of sediment resuspension in plutonium remobilisation and its possible dispersion on continental shelves.

a - Centre d’Océanologie de Marseille, Laboratoire d’Océanographie et de Biogéochimie, UMR 6535,
rue de la batterie des lions, 13007 Marseille, France
b - Institut de Radioprotection et de Sureté Nucléaire, Laboratoire d’Etudes Radioécologiques en milieux Continental et Marin,
centre IFREMER, BP 330, 83507 La Seyne-sur-Mer Cedex, France

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