UPTAKE OF RADIOISOTOPES BY VEGETATION GROWING ON URANIUM TAILINGS

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Abstract
An investigation was carried out on the uptake of several long-lived radioisotopes by grasses growing on uranium tailings. Field plots of creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra L.), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), redtop (Agrostis alba L.) and climax timothy (Phleum pratensis L.) which have been growing for 4 yr were sampled in this study. The tailings and the plant tissue were analyzed for uranium, thorium, radium-226, lead-210 and polonium-210. Sedimentation within the tailings area gave two zones: one of sands and one of slimes. The slimes contained significantly more radium-226, lead-210 and polonium-210 than the sands. There was no difference in uptake behavior by grasses growing in the sands and those growing in the slimes. Creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) showed an anomalous uptake of lead-210, but other than this, all four grass species showed similar uptake behavior. Only uranium and radium-226 were significantly higher in the grasses from the tailings than the control.

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