Soil Partitioning Coefficient (Kd) Studies
Partition coefficient (Kd or Kd) studies provide critical insight into contaminant migration, transport behavior, and environmental fate. RSCS performs technically defensible evaluations that support site characterization, risk assessment, contaminant transport modeling, and remediation planning. Our experience supporting regulated industries enables us to develop analytical approaches that withstand technical and regulatory scrutiny while providing meaningful data for project decision-making.
In the nuclear industry, site-specific Kd data are critical inputs to environmental dose assessment and contaminant transport models used to support licensing, decommissioning, and risk evaluations. During decommissioning, Kd values provide an important technical basis for demonstrating compliance with the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) and for developing site-specific inputs to the U.S. Department of Energy’s RESidual RADioactivity (RESRAD) code, which is widely used to evaluate residual radioactivity and derive site cleanup criteria in accordance with NRC requirements under 10 CFR 20 Subpart E. Kd data are also used in groundwater and environmental transport analyses that support Early Site Permit Applications (ESPAs), Combined License Applications (COLAs), and Environmental Reports prepared under 10 CFR Part 51. These evaluations commonly employ NRC-approved or accepted performance assessment and dose modeling tools, including RESRAD, GoldSim®, DandD, and other site-specific transport models, to assess routine and accidental radionuclide release scenarios, estimate offsite dose consequences, and demonstrate protection of public health and the environment. By developing defensible, site-specific partition coefficients, RSCS helps reduce modeling uncertainty and strengthen the technical basis of licensing, decommissioning, and environmental compliance decisions.