SEDIMENTS and POLLUTION in WATERWAYS General Considerations
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IAEA-TECDOC-302 SEDIMENTS AND POLLUTION IN WATERWAYS General Considerations INTRODUCTORY LECTURES PRESENTED AT THE FIRST RESEARCH CO-ORDINATION MEETING ROLE O NSEDIMENTTH F EO S ACCUMULATIOE TH N I TRANSPORD NAN T OF RADIONUCLIDE WATERWAYSN I S ORGANIZEE TH Y DB INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY AND HEL MOLDN I , BELGIUM, 11-15 OCTOBER 1982 A TECHNICAL DOCUMENT ISSUED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, 1984 SEDIMENT POLLUTIOD SAN WATERWAYSN I : GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS IAEA, VIENNA, 1984 IAEA-TECDOC-302 PrinteIAEe th AustriAn y i db a February 1984 PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ALL OF THE MISSING PAGES IN THIS DOCUMENT WERE ORIGINALLY BLANK The IAEA does not maintain stocks of reports in this series. However, microfiche copie f thesso e reportobtainee b n sca d from IN IS Clearinghouse International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramerstrasse 5 0 10 P.Ox Bo . A-1400 Vienna, Austria Orders should be accompanied by prepayment of Austrian Schillings 80.00 in the form of a cheque or in the form of IAEA microfiche service coupons which may be ordered separately from the IN IS Clearinghouse. TABL CONTENTS/TABLF EO MATIERES EDE S Preface ................................................................................................ 5 (Avant-propos) /. Molinari Géodynamiqu sédiments ede s dan milieus sle x torrentielt se fluviaux — Intérêt d'une politiqu gestioe ed n régionals ede sédiments ...........................................................................................7 1 . (Geodynamic f sedimentso strean si rived man r environments — Valu polica f eregionar o yfo l managemen f sedimentso t ) R.E. Quelennec Hydrodynamique des sédiments très fins ................................................. 33 (Hydrodynamics of very fine sediments) C. Migniot Mesur débite ed s solide t échantillonnagse e ............................................7 5 . (Measuremen f solio t d flow rate samplingd san ) A. Caillot Les lois physico-chimiques d'interaction entre un fluide et un solide ........ 71 (Physico-chemical laws governing solid-liquid interaction) D. Schweich L'écosystème fluvial ............................................................................ 93 (The river ecosystem) J.P. Descy, LambinonJ. Biological activit sedimentd yan s ...........................................................1 11 . (Activité biologiqu t sédimentsee ) G.C. Cadee Problem f sedimenso t samplin conservatiod gan radionuclidr nfo e accumulation studies ........................................................................ 127 problème (L prélèvemenu ed conservatioa l e d t e t sédiments nde s dans les études de transfert de radionucléides) E.K. Duursma Some typical examples of the importance of the role of sediments in the propagatio accumulatiod nan pollutantf no s ................................7 13 . (Quelques exemples caractéristique l'importance sd rôlu s ed ede sédiments dans la propagation et l'accumulation des polluants) U. Förstner, SchoerJ. Sediment-water interaction modeld transpore san th r sfatfo d ean t of radionuclides in rivers .................................................................... 159 (Les interactions eau-sédiments et la modélisation du transport et du devenir des radionucléides dans les cours d'eau) D.N. Edgington PREFACE Serious incidents revealed not so long ago the importance, specific nature and unpredictabilit effecte th f yo f fixationso , transpor accumulatiod an t f no pollutant n suspendeso d particle r sedimentso hydrologican si l systems; hence af nucleattima o e e ag whe re industrnth truls i y y dawnin mann i g y countries, special care shoul radiologicae showe th b d n i n l monitorin controd e an gth f lo natural aquatic environment in order to take all of these phenomena into consideration. It has now been demonstrated that a large number of naturally occurring, agricultural and nuclear mineral and organic products released into rivers, estuarie marine th d es an environment become fixe n verdo y fine sedimentd san organie th n o c matter whic oftes i h n associated with them. These substances are thus both the physical support and the carrier of numerous pollutants as a result of processes which involve: Biological phenomena; Physico-chemical interactions between liquid solidsd san ; - Sedimentary movements: drifting, suspension, deposition, renewed uptake etc. whico t , h mus addee tb d man-made disturbances sucs a h dredging, dam flushing and mining. This sequenc eventf eo accumulatioe th leay so ma t d pollutantf no n si lakes and dam reservoirs or at sites where dredging products are deposited, as reconcentratioe th o welt s la estuarien ni formatioe resula th s s a f to f no silt lenses that are highly turbid. All these processes involve considerable amounts of contaminated solid matter, the contaminants in which are likely to be transformed into soluble form r formso takese y livinb b thap n nu tca g organs and then follow pathways that may lead them to man. Contro environmene th police f lo th d y tan applie o releaset d s therefore requires a good knowledge of sediment dynamics and the physico-chemical propertie particlef so s actin pollutans a g t vectors biologicae welth s , a s la l processes likely to occur at all stages of migration. Curiously enough, the monitoring and protection of the natural environment, through lack of interdisciplinary agreement, have not yet taken full advantage of the upswing in radioecological studies recene ,th t progres basin si c chemistrye th d ,an knowledge gained in hydraulics and sedimentology. If the advances made in these subjects could be pooled, it would certainly be possible to improve the selectio monitorinf no g sites o limi,t numbee tth f samplero s take favoun i n r of more selective sampling and, above all, to draw useful conclusions regardin managemene th g f releaseto environmente th o st . In order to encourage the concerted action which could open up such prospects Secretariae ,th IAEe decides th Aha f to establiso t d three-yeaha r Co-ordinated Research Programme (CRP) dealing with the subject: "The rol f sedimenteo e transporth n si accumulatiod tan f radioactivno e pollutant rivern si estuaries"d san . Like all the Agency's co-ordinated research programmes, this one brings together a number of scientists interested in the same field of research with viea stimulatino wt exchange th g f ideaeo encouragind san g closer collaboration between research worker differenn si t countries. The objective presene th f so t CRP, which have been defined withie nth context of the activities of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and its Waste Management Section promoto t e ,overalar n ea l approac variouy hb s laboratories specializin waten i g r management, sedimentology, geochemistry, radioecology and other subject developee th n si developind an d g countrie o facilitatt d san e a co-ordination of efforts in order to gain a better grasp of the pollution processes occurring in rivers and estuaries. Because of the multidisciplinary aspects of the project in view, and for the purpose of placing the research programme in the broader context of the management of sediments and their role as vectors in the spread of pollutants, the Secretariat proposed, for the first time within the CRP framework, that expert subjecte th eacn i sf ho s concerne dprogrammr drafo p wu e participantsa probleme th lis f to s involve methodf o d an ds aime overcomint a d least a r tgo tackling them. Thipaperf o a st f lis se so compiles a tforwa e f th m o n i d general nature, which were presented durin initiafirse e o dayth th g tw tf so l Nucleal Mo e th P rhel t CR Researc a dmeetine th f ho g Centre (Belgium). These more general papers were illustrated, at the same meeting, by examination of the case of the River Meuse, an international waterway on the banks of which several nuclear power plant d facilitiesan s have been constructed. presene Th t document reproduces originae th n ,i l language (Englisr ho French), only such papers as were more general in nature—*/ . These introductory papers, which are preceded by a bilingual abstract, deal with the following topics: - Geodynamic sedimentf so s - Rheology of sediments - Flux measurements and sediment sampling - Soli liquid an d d interactions - River ecosystem - Sediments and biological activity Pollution flux and sediments in river systems - Accounting for sediments in the simulation of transfers. This multidisciplinary approach, which call expertr sfo s with different mosbackgrounde t th involvet no r par e fo specificalln ar to i d swh y nuclear studie justifies s wa fac e th t y thatdb : - The mechanisms underlying transport and interaction in the aquatic environment only rarely (principall certain i y n metabolic processes) bring into play effects thaspecificalle tar y isotopic; - Radioactive pollutants canno isolatee tb d from other concomitant forms of pollution, chemical substances or other contaminants (for example thermal pollution), the relative harmfulness of which is often greater? Synergic effect stakee b hav o net into account? - The mode of transfer never depends on the nature of the pollutant; papere Th s V dealin gRivee witcasth e rf th h eo Meus varioud ean s other communications presente participanty b d Co-ordinatee th n si d Research Programm obtainee b y ema n reques do t froSecretariate mth Molinari. J : , Waste Management Section, Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle, IAEA, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. Radioecology, whic basicalls i h domaie yth f researcno h workers from the "nuclear seraglio", has a great deal to gain from "decompartmentalization" and mutual exchange with other subjects relating to the study of natural environments. The goals tha Secretariae tth r itselt fo thu t fsse have been fully attained, sinc presentatioe th e f introductor o f thino t sse y papers firsd tan foremost enabled participants to "discover" in a new light the problem of monitorin naturae th g l environmen controllind an t g pollutants whichy ,b pathways often difficult to foresee (for example the role of bacteria in sediments), may find their way into the food chain of man.