In the western United States and in many arid regions, wastewater reclamation is becoming a common way of increasing water supplies. More and more wastewater is being reclaimed for non-potable uses such as irrigation, but reclamation for potable use is also being practiced. One of the concerns for wastewater reclamation is the distribution of contaminants that are not removed by either the wastewater treatment plant or the water treatment plant in the case of potable reclamation. The recent accident at Fukushima has focused attention on the spread of fission and decay byproduct across farmlands and into drinking water systems. An important concern is the distribution of radionuclides by wastewater reclamation. In former times, it was assumed that

reclamation activities will stop if there is a contamination problem, but with increasing

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reliance of reclamation, stopping reclamation may have important and perhaps severe effects, including the loss of key industries such as petroleum refining that use reclaimed water. This thesis is a review of the important radionuclides that may be produced from a fission accident or a spill, and their fate in a wastewater treatment plant. Since experimental approaches for studying this problem are not generally feasible, a review of all the documented occurrences of spills has been made. In some cases the fate of fallout from atmospheric testing has been observed and this also provides useful information. The overall goal is to develop the knowledge that will allow treatment plant operators to react quickly to an accident or spill and provide guidance for temporary or short term measures to mitigate the impacts.