Influence of climatic conditions and soil type on 99TcO4– uptake by rye grass

Climatic changes over the long term will modify significantly the biosphere, with glaciation events probably taking place in the next 100 000 years. This is important to safety assessments of nuclear waste disposal facilities that contain high-level and long-lived waste. The soils will evolve toward new situations, and their properties will be consequently modified (e.g. an increase of soil organic matter may be expected in a cooler climate). These changes in soil properties would affect the mobility and the soil-to-plant transfer of radionuclides such as 99Tc. This study aimed at simulating the cooling of climatic conditions for soils representative of a Jurassic limestone plateau, and the effect on transfer parameters of 99TcO4− in the soil–plant systems was investigated. The cooler conditions were simulated by increasing elevation, a surrogate for climate change. Soils were sampled in similar geological background and topography at different elevations in the north east of France (Lorraine and Jura). Soil/solution distribution coefficients (Kd) of 99TcO4− were measured on soil samples in short-term batch experiments with 1:10 soil:solution ratio. Rye grass was grown on the soils spiked with 99TcO4− at temperature regimes adapted to each soil. Also, two different temperature regimes (cold and temperate) were applied to one soil to test the effect of plant physiology and evapotranspiration on 99TcO4− uptake. Kd values did not show significant differences among soils in aerobic conditions, and were not significantly different from 0. During plant culture, reduction of 99Tc was never totally achieved in soils, including in a peaty OM soil. Concentration ratios (CR) were calculated on a dry weight basis and ranged from 20 to 370. CR were always higher in high temperature regimes than in cold temperatures. They were also inversely correlated with soil organic matter (OM) content. A decrease of CR values from 5 to 10-fold was observed with increasing soil OM. Results suggested that the water holding capacity, in which 99Tc is diluted, the nitrification potential of the soils and the evapotranspiration of plants (efficiency of uptake of soluble 99TcO4−) were strongly involved in these differences