Neptunium / Sorption / Laboratory study / Seawater / Chemical composition
SummaryThe fate of neptunium in the aquatic environment is dependent upon, amongst other processes, the extent of uptake by particulate material. In oxic natural waters it exists predominantly in the V-valent state. A number of laboratory experiments have been carried out, using 239 Np tracer, particulate material prepared from Irish Sea sediment and various synthetic solutions, to determine the influence of chemical parameters on the sorption behaviour of Np(V) in marine waters. The data suggest that uptake is highly dependent upon solution pH both as a result of changes in charge on particle surfaces and, at high pH values (>9.0), from the formation of hydrolysis species. Np(V) uptake by marine particulate material was essentially independent of ionic strength within the pH range of natural seawater. The presence of Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ and HC0 3~ ions was found to inhibit Np(V) sorption ; removal of Np(V) was, however, increased from solutions which were supersaturated with respect to CaC0 3 . The data indicate that, although Np(V) sorption in seawater is controlled by interactions between Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ and HC0 3 " ions, the effect of the combined presence of all three constituents is more complex than might be expected from the action of individual components.