Evaluation of distribution coefficients for the prediction of strontium and cesium migration in a natural sand at different water contents

Abstract
Contaminant distribution coefficient determined under saturated conditions are often used to model solute transport in the vadose zone. However, the water content of porous media may affect the transport behaviour of conservative and sorbing solutes. We performed column experiments using sand from Chernobyl area and we investigated the transport of tritiated water as conservative tracer, ⁸⁵Sr and ¹³⁴Cs as reactive solutes at different water saturation levels. The results indicate that when the Kd model is applicable, a decrease of the water content leads to a decrease of the Kd value.