Colloid transport of radionuclides in soils

Radionuclides undergo redistribution and change existence forms (and, therefore, migration dynamics) not only immediately after they enter into the environment, but also during migration. The latter can be associated with changes in the delivery medium (for example, as strongly contaminated wastewaters is diluted by natural), decrease in the concentration of radionuclides (during their sorption and coprecipitation on soil or host rock microparticles), or change in carrier forms (dissolution of fuel matrices). In view of the multifactor nature and complexity of these processes, we set ourselves the task to summarize results obtained at the GEOKHI RAS on the forms of existence and migration dynamics of radionuclides in radioactively contaminated soils. As objects for study we used soils typical of the forest-steppe zone of the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT) and taken at a distance of 2 through 8 km from the Trace axis and 2–4 km from the accident place, as well as samples of the high-water bed soils and sediments of the Enisey River, taken 60 km downstream from the Mining Chemical Combine (MCC).