Radiocesium discharges and subsequent environmental transport at the major US weapons production facilities

Radiocesium is one of the more prevalent radionuclides in the environment as a result of weapons production-related atomic projects in the USA and the former Soviet Union. Radiocesium discharges during the 1950s account for a large fraction of the historical releases from US weapons production facilities. Releases of radiocesium to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems during the early years of nuclear weapons production provided the opportunity to conduct multidisciplinary studies on the transport mechanisms of this potentially hazardous radionuclide. The major US Department of Energy facilities (Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, and Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina, USA) are located in regions of the country that have different geographical characteristics. The facility siting provided diverse backgrounds for the development of an understanding of environmental factors contributing to the fate and transport of radiocesium. In this paper, we summarize the significant environmental releases of radiocesium in the early years of weapons production and then discuss the historically significant transport mechanisms for 137Cs at the three facilities that were part of the US nuclear weapons complex.