Abstract

DE LA CRUZ, Eduardo et al. Numerical simulation of ²²⁶Ra migration and decay in a saturated porous medium. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2011, vol.27, n.3, pp.215-221. ISSN 0188-4999.

Numerical simulation of transport and radioactive decay of ²²⁶Ra as a constant product of ²³⁸U decay from a simulated storage facility containing uranium tailings is presented in this work. The simulation domain consists of six subsoil layers through which one of the uranium daughters ²²⁶Ra is migrating as well as decaying. The methodology consists in first calculating the ²²⁶Ra velocity field through the computational domain by solving the momentum and mass conservation equation using Darcy´s Law. The transport equation is then solved to obtain the extent of the contaminant´s migration. The solution is obtained with the finite-element method. Results showed that the estimated ²²⁶Ra migration time through 200 meters of soil was about five hundred years.

Keywords : Simulation; soil pollution; transport; porous medium.