TRANS-LARA

Transport and transfer behavior of long-lived radionuclides along the causal chain Groundwater - soil surface - plant, taking into account long-term climatic changes

BMBF funding number 02NUK051A-E

Duration: 01.09.2017 – 01.08.2020

Persons in charge:
Prof. Thorsten Schäfer, Dr. Dirk Merten, Marcus Böhm, Dr. Daniel Jara

Description:
For long-term safety detection of potential repositories, the current radioecologic models in accident scenarios proceed from a radionuclide entry into the biosphere via the water path. In addition to the path over rainfall and irrigation, the entry is particularly interesting in the soil via fluctuating groundwater level changes. The aim is to provide a deeper understanding of the complex mechanisms of radionuclide transport from the groundwater zone to the plants, including climatic changes, which should lead to improved risk assessments for the exposure of the population over long periods. A significant step forward is the elucidation of the host mechanisms of radionuclides in crop plants at the molecular level, a concept which allows for far-reaching explanatory power beyond previous transfer factors.

This results in the following tasks: experimental investigations on the migration and accumulation of radionuclides in soil near the surface and their transfer into plants via the root path; modeling both the transport of radionuclides from contaminated groundwaters into the upper soil layers (via the unsaturated zone), as well as sorption and speciation of radionuclides in different soils, including climatic changes and different management scenarios; clarification of the largely incomplete transport of radionuclides in crops over the root path on the molecular level.