Concentration ratios are used to determine the transfer of nuclides from soil to biota to fauna. Some nuclides have limited associated data though, this has not prevented predictions from being performed at sites without associated data. These ratios are site specific and are not fully applicable when applied to other locations. A recent literature review for a waste repository performance assessment determined that a significant portion of the environmental data was based on recursively published material. To address this deficiency neutron activation analysis (NAA) was used to determine concentration ratios of certain biota. Three sites, two riparian and one shrub steppe, were sampled in the eastern Washington Columbia basin, near the Hanford site. Two hundred and fifty eight samples of opportunity were collected. This included 15 soil samples, 10 water and sediment samples, 40 different species of biota, and 2 terrestrial animal species and 3 aquatic animal species. These samples were prepared for NAA by drying, weighing, and in certain cases ashing to improve detection efficiency. After activation, the samples were placed in a HPGe detector to perform spectral analysis. The concentration results of 26 elements of interest are presented, along with newly established concentration ratios for all of the species sampled. / Graduation date: 2013
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/34549 |
| Date | 12 September 2012 |
| Creators | Napier, Jonathan Bamberger |
| Contributors | Higley, Kathryn A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Relation | Oregon Explorer |
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