Investigation of radionuclide release from Solid Waste Disposal Area 3, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Technical Report · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1981

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6315861· OSTI ID:6315861

Stueber, A. M.; Webster, D. A.; Munro, I. L.; Farrow, N. D.; Scott, T. G.

Radionuclide release from Solid Waste Disposal Area (SWDA) 3 has been studied through the analysis of surface and ground waters from the local drainage areas. SWDA 3 is located in the Northwest Tributary drainage basin, a part of the White Oak Creek drainage; /sup 90/Sr is the only radionuclide being discharged in solution in the main stream. Water-level measurements in wells around SWDA 3 suggest the presence of a ground-water divide beneath the southwestern end of the disposal area. Ground water below this area may be moving southwestward toward the Raccoon Creek drainage system. Strontium-90 activity has been detected in this watershed, discharging from a seep adjacent to a Raccoon Creek tributary stream about 640 m southwest of SWDA 3. It appears that /sup 90/Sr is moving through ground-water flow to the northeast and to the southwest of SWDA 3 and that this direction of movement is related to bedrock structure. The trend of a line connecting the two seeps passes through the disposal area and is parallel to bedrock strike. Information from core-hole logs and televiewer logs suggests that /sup 90/Sr in ground water may be moving through solution channels near the contact between units F and G of the Chickamauga Limestone. The apparent extent of migration of /sup 90/Sr in bedrock has implications regarding potential underground radionuclide movement in Melton Valley.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 6315861
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-7323; ON: DE81030260; TRN: 81-016187
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
STREAMS
CONTAMINATION
STRONTIUM 90
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GROUND WATER
ORNL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
DATA
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOISOTOPES
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
SURFACE WATERS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
520301* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Water- (1987)
053000 - Nuclear Fuels- Environmental Aspects