Accumulation of uranium derived from long-term fertilizer applications in a cultivated Andisol

The U concentrations in the soils of experimental fields with continuous fertilizer applications and in neighboring nonagricultural soils were determined. The surface soils in the three experimental fields with fertilizer applications contained higher amounts of U compared with the non-agricultural surface soils. The amount of U elevated in the soil was estimated by the vertical profile of U concentration, and an increase of about 200 mg m−2 of U was found in the soils at 0–35 cm depth during a 61-year cultivation period. The estimated value was almost the same as the amount of U added through the fertilizers as calculated from U concentrations in the applied fertilizers. Therefore, almost all the U from the fertilizers would still remain in the upper part of the soils. Chemical extraction results suggested that organic substances and noncrystalline clay minerals in the surface soil should play an important role for accumulation of U derived from the fertilizers.