Determination of acid leachable and total plutonium in large soil samples

Global fallout plutonium, most of which was produced by large thermonuclear tests injecting submicron particles into the stratosphere, can be readily extracted from soil by strong acid leaching. Some nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) produced fallout in offsite regions that does not yield its total plutonium content to an acid leach. We theorize that those detonations occurred near the desert surface and incorporated fused silicate soil particles, many >1 m, into the mushroom cloud and stem. We have assembled a radiochemical procedure to insure the complete dissolution of plutonium in 50g of acid leached soil residue. The results of a complete analysis of the leachate and leached residue from soil collected near NTS and the eastern United States illustrate the impact of these particles on the plutonium values obtained by the two methods.