The soils surrounding coastal nuclear power plant are currently mainly brown soil and aeolian sandy soil in China . Previous research focused on the characteristics of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁸⁹Sr in different soils, and details of ⁶⁰Co in brown soil and aeolian sandy soil are still inadequate. This study deals with an experiment to determine the vertical migration of ⁶⁰Co in brown soil and aeolian sandy soil. The soils around Shidaowan Nuclear Power Plant are studied by using undisturbed soil column methods and isotope tracer technology to identify the factors influencing the migration depths in soil. The results show that with the increase of the number of leaching tests the migration of ⁶⁰Co in aeolian sand soil is greater than that in brown soil, but the difference gradually decreases with the progress of spray test; that the content of ⁶⁰Co in leaching water is very little and cannot be detected due to the strong adsorption by soil; and that after three years of undisturbed soil column experiment, 72.36~85.26% of ⁶⁰Co mainly is retarded in the range of 0~5 cm in both soil surfaces. It is proved that ⁶⁰Co is difficult to migrate to groundwater in a short period. The distribution of specific activity of ⁶⁰Co in soil is an individual exponential declining with the depth of oil. The study provides technical support for post-accident environmental impact assessment and post-accident soil treatment in future.

radionuclide ⁶⁰Co  /  brown soil  /  aeolian sandy soil  /  soil column leaching test  /  migration and distribution