Native plants as sentinels of tritium contamination

This study assessed the potential of six plant species growing in the Mojave Desert, as sentinels of tritium contamination below earthen caps covering radioactive waste. The plants, grown in hydroponic tanks and 3 m columns, were evaluated for treatments representing three different levels of tritium contamination. Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, replaces a hydrogen atom in a water molecule and readily migrates through soil. Plant roots coming into contact with soil moisture do not discriminate between tritiated water molecules and dihydrogen water molecules in the uptake process. Plants have the potential to be more effective monitors of radioactive waste-sites than mechanical sensors, because roots sample a larger soil volume. Tissue collection from plants to detect tritium can be completely aboveground, offers the option of transpiration capture or biomass analysis, and potentially exposes technicians to lower levels of radioactivity than encountered during installation and maintenance of in-ground mechanical sensors.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biological Science

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2003

Author dc:creator

• Grant, Colleen A

Contributors dc:contributor

• Stanley D. Smith
• Dale A. Devitt

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1595

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2594