The Underground Water Leaching of Radionuclides Produced in Soil by Hadrons Created in High Energy Proton Interactions

Soil samples collected from the NAL construction site were irradiated downstream from Target stations at the Argonne National Laboratory ZGS and Brookhaven National Laboratory AGS. Radiochemical analyses were performed to determine the radioactivities induced in the soil. Batch-type leaching experiments were then conducted to determine the distribution of the induced radionuclides between the soil and water. Of the radionuclides uroduced in the soil, only 3H, 22Na, 45Ca and 54Mn were detected in the leach waters. The results were used to determine possible contamination of underground reservoirs.