Forest fires produce various particulate organic matters (POMs) derived from the incomplete combution process of biomass. The POMs deposited in soil and sediments can affect the physicochemical properties of the subsurface environments. This study investigated the sorption and transport behavior of cesium (Cs) in soil-groundwater environment after wildfire. Soil samples were collected at two locations (GS1 & GS2) in Gangwon Province, Korea, at different depths (~5, ~20, and ~40 cm). The sampling site, where a large-scale forest fire occurred in 2017, was damaged almost 252 ha of forest. The soil characteristics were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), total organic carbon (TOC) analysis and organic petrography, and batch and fixed-bed column experiments were performed to evaluate the Cs uptake and retardation. The XRD patterns of the soils indicated that the mineral compositions of soils were quartz, feldspars (e.g., orthoclase & albite) with minor muscovite/illite. Quartz and feldspars were abundant in all studied soils, and GS2 sample contained higher feldspars and phyllosilicate minerals than the GS1. The TOC contents were high (7–8wt%) in the topsoils, decreasing with depth. The SEM and organic petrographic analyses showed that various organic carbon particles such as textinite, ulminite, fusinite (charcoal) and char existed. Presence of charcoal and char is the evidence of wildfires, even though their amount was few. Batch sorption experiments revealed that the Kd value decreased non-linearly as the Cs concentrations increased, and the sorption isotherms were fitted well with the Freundlich model. The Kd values of each soil were much greater in topsoils compared to subsoils at all experimental Cs concentrations. In particular, the GS1 topsoil had higher sorption capacity for cesium than GS2 subsoils, although it had low phyllosilicate mineral contents with realtively rich organic matter. The breakthrough curve of column experiments with high concentration (C0 ≈ 1×105 μg·L−1) also exhibited remarkable Cs retardation phenomena in topsoils. Their retardation factors (Rf,Cs) were max. 4 times greater than those of subsoils, showing Rf,Cs ≈ 43 to 45 for topsoils. At low concentration (C0 ≈ 1×104 μg·L−1), the Rf,Cs of topsoils (≈ 284 to 374) was slightly greater than that of subsoils (≈ 270 to 271). These results imply that POMs caused by wildfires can play important role on the Cs sorption and transport in the subsurface environments.

Multiple sorptive sites on natural illitic clays (e.g., frayed edge [FES], type II [TS], and planar sites [PS]) play an important role to diverse 137Cs immobilization in soil and aquifer environments. This study investigated the Cs sorption capabilities of 10 natural illitic clays at ranged Cs concentrations (1 ×10−7 to 1×10−3 mol·L−1) under various competing potassium concentration (distilled water to 1×10−1 mol·L−1). Additionally, multisite cation exchange model was performed to evaluate the best-fit sorption model and optimize the sorption capacities and affinities of multiple sorptive sites for Cs. Here, the experimental Cs sorption isotherms varied among 10 illtic clays, indicating different sorption capacities of Cs on illitic clays. The best-fit sorption model exhibited that variable Cs sorption of 10 illitic clays was significantly related to the sorption capacities at the FES (1.76 × 10−5 to 1.12×10−4 eq·kg−1), TS (1.59×10−3 to 9.76×10−3 eq·kg−1), and PS (2.14×10−2 to 1.51×10−1 eq·kg−1), respectively. The FES predominantly contributed to Cs sorption at low aqueous concentrations, whereas the TS and PS sorbed Cs at high concentrations. These sorption capabilities of multiple sorptive sites were correlated to illite contents and crystallinity of illitic clays, implicating that such parameters could be key factors to predict the Cs sorption for natural illitic clays in soil and aquifer environments. Finally, 1-D transport simulations represented that the severe Cs retardation occurred at low Cs concentration, implying that the FES predominantly affected to Cs transport in actual radioactive contamination sites (i.e., where low Cs concentration prevails), compared to the TS and/or PS.

본 연구는 원자력 중대 사고 시, 환경에 유출된 방사성 세슘의 확산을 억제하기 위해 충북 영동 지역 일라이트의 활용 가능성을 평가하였다. 영동 일라이트는 운모질 편암의 열수변질 작용에 의해 형성되었으며, 주요 구성 광물은 석영, 장석, 일라이트이다. 저농도 세슘 용액을 사용한 회분식 흡착 실험 결과, 영동 일라이트의 흡착 분배 계수(Kd)는 약 4,200 L kg-1으로 다른 점토 광물에 비해 비교적 높은 값을 가지며, 이는 일라이트에 존재하는 풍화된 모서리면(FES)의 영향으로 판단된다. 영동 일라 이트와 세슘의 흡착등온선은 비선형 흡착 특성을 나타내며 단일 표면 한계 흡착 능력이 250,000 μg kg-1으로 우수한 흡착능을 보여주어 방사성 세슘 흡착제로서의 사용 가능성을 입증하였다. 이러한 결 과는 추후 방사능 누출 사고 등의 긴급 상황 발생 시, 영동 지역 일라이트를 오염 확산 방지 및 정화 작업에 사용하기 위한 평가 자료로 활용될 것으로 기대된다.

본 연구는 원자력 중대 사고 시, 환경에 유출된 방사성 세슘의 확산을 억제하기 위해 충북 영동 지역 일라이트의 활용 가능성을 평가하였다. 영동 일라이트는 운모질 편암의 열수변질 작용에 의해 형성되었으며, 주요 구성 광물은 석영, 장석, 일라이트이다. 저농도 세슘 용액을 사용한 회분식 흡착 실험 결과, 영동 일라이트의 흡착 분배 계수(Kd)는 약 4,200 L kg-1으로 다른 점토 광물에 비해 비교적 높은 값을 가지며, 이는 일라이트에 존재하는 풍화된 모서리면(FES)의 영향으로 판단된다. 영동 일라 이트와 세슘의 흡착등온선은 비선형 흡착 특성을 나타내며 단일 표면 한계 흡착 능력이 250,000 μg kg-1으로 우수한 흡착능을 보여주어 방사성 세슘 흡착제로서의 사용 가능성을 입증하였다. 이러한 결 과는 추후 방사능 누출 사고 등의 긴급 상황 발생 시, 영동 지역 일라이트를 오염 확산 방지 및 정화 작업에 사용하기 위한 평가 자료로 활용될 것으로 기대된다.