RECENT OBSERVATIONS ON THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL SPECIATION OF PLUTONIUM INTHE IRISH-SEA AND THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN

Data on the physico-chemical speciation of Pu in the Irish Sea and the western Mediterranean, gathered in the course of research expeditions carried out in the period 1988-93, are reviewed in detail in this pap er. Measurements of the oxidation state distribution of Pu-239,Pu-240 (and Pu-238) in filtered water sampled throughout the Irish Sea show l ittle variation, geographically or temporally, with some 87 +/- 6% in the oxidized, Pu(V), state overall. No distinction is observed between surface and bottom waters, reflecting both the shallow and the well-m ixed nature of these waters. Interestingly, the Pu-241(IV)/Pu-239,Pu-2 40(IV) ratio in filtered water from the north-eastern Irish Sea, close to the Sellafield source-term, is found to be significantly higher th an the corresponding Pu-241(V)/Pu-239,Pu-240(V) ratio, while the latte r appears to be identical to the Pu-241/Pu-239,Pu-240 ratio in suspend ed particulate from the same zone. It is suggested that this distincti on is of importance in the interpretation of the mechanisms responsibl e for the hold-up and dispersion of Pu in the near field. The percenta ge of Pu in colloidal form in open waters, as operationally defined by enhanced sorption on Al2O3, seldom exceeds 15%. There is some evidenc e of higher percentages in near-shore waters containing proportionatel y more Pu in the reduced, Pu(IV), state. Chemical speciation and enhan ced sorption analyses on samples of ultrafiltered water confirm that a significant proportion of the Pu(IV) is in a colloidal form and that the size of the colloidal particles or aggregates involved (<10 kD) is considerably smaller than that observed in non-saline waters. In cont rast to the case of Pu(IV), there is no evidence of significant Pu(V) retention upon ultrafiltration, even by a 1 kD membrane, demonstrating that Pu in an oxidized form is genuinely soluble. The oxidation state distribution of Pu in the western Mediterranean water column was also examined. In open waters, a pronounced sub-surface maximum in the Pu( V) concentration is observed at depths between 250 m and 500 m. Moreov er, the percentage of Pu(IV) is found to increase from 5% at a depth o f almost 3000 m to a maximum of 70% at about 50 m, most if not all of this increase taking place in the upper half of the water column. Insh ore (Gulf of Vera), the percentage of Pu(IV) in surface waters rises t o almost 50%, while the percentage in bottom waters remains at 5%. Ove rall, the bulk of the Pu inventory in the Mediterranean water column i s in an oxidized form, particularly in open waters, while the quantiti es in particulate or colloidal form are comparatively small.