Effects of humic substances on the 241Am migration in a sandy aquifer: column experiments with Gorleben groundwater/sediment systems

Migration experiments were performed to study the influence of aquatic humic substances on the transport behavior of 241Am(III). Four groundwaters with different humic substance concentrations (DOC: 1 to 80 mg/l) were sampled together with Pleistocene aeolian quartz sand from the Gorleben site. Sand, groundwaters and humic substances were characterized by different analytical methods (e.g., ICP-MS, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence analysis, ultrafiltration). The sand was equilibrated with each groundwater under inert gas atmosphere with 1% CO2 for a period of at least 3 months. As confirmed by ultrafiltration, the size distribution of humic colloids remained unchanged during equilibration. The hydraulic properties of sand columns were characterized with tritiated water as an inert tracer. Column and batch experiments were carried out with each groundwater as a function of the reaction period and flow velocity. In addition, the influence of the equilibration period of Am with groundwater was investigated prior to the injection into a column. The results revealed that increasing humic substance concentration reduced the Am sorption onto sand and enhanced the transport as colloid-borne Am species. The migration of colloid-borne Am was slightly faster than the groundwater flow velocity. Furthermore, the migration behavior of Am was found to depend on kinetically controlled interaction of humic colloid-bound Am with the sand surface. The application of the laboratory data to natural conditions was examined. The results were found applicable for the assessment of humic colloid facilitated radionuclide migration in natural aquifers.