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© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
D. K. Gupta, C. Walther (eds.), Uranium in Plants and the Environment,
Radionuclides and Heavy Metals in the Environment,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14961-1_5
The Behaviour of Uranium in Soils
and the Mechanisms of Its Accumulation
by Agricultural Plants
Aleksandr N. Ratnikov, Dmitry G. Sviridenko, Galina I. Popova,
Natalia I. Sanzharova, and Rena A. Mikailova
Abstract Environmental contamination by
238
U occurs in the resting places of
rocks with high uranium content in the points, where the ground waters come out on
the Earth surface.
238
U enters the atmosphere because of volcanic outbursts, forest
fires, meteoric dust and soil transfer by the wind. A significant fraction of environmental contamination is formed by the products of
238
U leaching from the wastes of
uranium mines and plants and releases of uranium fusion (yellow substance) from
the stacks of the enterprises processing the uranium concentrate. Entrance into the
environment with the wastes of phosphate industry (at phosphate rock processing),
application of phosphoric fertilisers (superphosphate, precipitated phosphate and
others), coil burning at thermal power plants and primary metal establishments are
considered as the intensive source of agrocoenosis contamination. The conducted
studies established that the accumulation of
238
U by crops is closely related to the
content of humus, mobile calcium and physical clay in the soils. The correlation
coefficient between the accumulation of
238
U in the oats grain and the humus content
in the soil is R = 0.91 ± 0.04. Differences in the accumulation of
238
U in plants
depend on the texture of sod-podzolic soils and come up to 1.2–1.6 times. The
uptake of
238
U from sod-podzolic soils to barley is 1.4–3.4 times higher than that of
chernozem-type soils with a high content of humus and mobile calcium.
Keywords
238
U · Radioactive contamination · Remediation · Fertilisers ·
Agricultural techniques · Crops
1 Sources of
238
U Entrance into Agricultural Ecosystems
Uranium is a heavy natural radionuclide, participating in the formation of the Earth
crust. Atomic mass of the natural uranium is 238.02891. It was discovered by the
German chemist M.H. Klaproth in 1789. Uranium is widely spread in nature
A. N. Ratnikov (*) · D. G. Sviridenko · G. I. Popova · N. I. Sanzharova · R. A. Mikailova
Russian Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, Obninsk, Kaluga Region, Russia
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
D. K. Gupta, C. Walther (eds.), Uranium in Plants and the Environment,
Radionuclides and Heavy Metals in the Environment,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14961-1_5
The Behaviour of Uranium in Soils
and the Mechanisms of Its Accumulation
by Agricultural Plants
Aleksandr N. Ratnikov, Dmitry G. Sviridenko, Galina I. Popova,
Natalia I. Sanzharova, and Rena A. Mikailova
Abstract Environmental contamination by
238
U occurs in the resting places of
rocks with high uranium content in the points, where the ground waters come out on
the Earth surface.
238
U enters the atmosphere because of volcanic outbursts, forest
fires, meteoric dust and soil transfer by the wind. A significant fraction of environmental contamination is formed by the products of
238
U leaching from the wastes of
uranium mines and plants and releases of uranium fusion (yellow substance) from
the stacks of the enterprises processing the uranium concentrate. Entrance into the
environment with the wastes of phosphate industry (at phosphate rock processing),
application of phosphoric fertilisers (superphosphate, precipitated phosphate and
others), coil burning at thermal power plants and primary metal establishments are
considered as the intensive source of agrocoenosis contamination. The conducted
studies established that the accumulation of
238
U by crops is closely related to the
content of humus, mobile calcium and physical clay in the soils. The correlation
coefficient between the accumulation of
238
U in the oats grain and the humus content
in the soil is R = 0.91 ± 0.04. Differences in the accumulation of
238
U in plants
depend on the texture of sod-podzolic soils and come up to 1.2–1.6 times. The
uptake of
238
U from sod-podzolic soils to barley is 1.4–3.4 times higher than that of
chernozem-type soils with a high content of humus and mobile calcium.
Keywords
238
U · Radioactive contamination · Remediation · Fertilisers ·
Agricultural techniques · Crops
1 Sources of
238
U Entrance into Agricultural Ecosystems
Uranium is a heavy natural radionuclide, participating in the formation of the Earth
crust. Atomic mass of the natural uranium is 238.02891. It was discovered by the
German chemist M.H. Klaproth in 1789. Uranium is widely spread in nature
A. N. Ratnikov (*) · D. G. Sviridenko · G. I. Popova · N. I. Sanzharova · R. A. Mikailova
Russian Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, Obninsk, Kaluga Region, Russia