Hydrogeologic characterization of an arid zone Radioactive Waste Management Site
- USDOE Nevada Operations Office, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
- Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Co., Inc., Las Vegas, NV (United States)
- Nevada Univ., Reno, NV (United States). Desert Research Inst.
An in-depth subsurface site characterization and monitoring program for the soil water migration pathway has been planned, implemented, and completed to satisfy data requirements for a waiver from groundwater monitoring, for an exemption from liner leachate collections systems, and for different regulatory driven performance assessments. A traditional scientific approach has been taken to focus characterization and monitoring efforts. This involved developing a conceptual model of the hydrogeologic system and defining and testing hypotheses about this model. Specific hypotheses tested included: that the system was hydrologically heterogenous and anisotropic, and that recharge was very low or negligible. Mineralogical, physical, and hydrologic data collected to test hypotheses has shown the hydrologic system to be remarkably homogenous and isotropic rather than heterogenous and anisotropic. Both hydrodynamic and environmental tracer approaches for estimating recharge have led to the conclusion that recharge from the Area 5 RWMS is not occurring in the upper region of the vadose zone, and that recharge at depth is extremely small or negligible. This demonstration of ``no migration of hazardous constituents to the water table satisfies a key requirement for both the groundwater monitoring waiver and the exemption from liner leachate collection systems. Data obtained from testing hypotheses concerning the soil water migration pathway have been used to refine the conceptual model of the hydrogeologic system of the site. These data suggest that the soil gas and atmospheric air pathways may be more important for transporting contaminants to the accessible environment than the soil water pathway. New hypotheses have been developed about these pathways, and characterization and monitoring activities designed to collect data to test these hypotheses.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Nevada Operations Office, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 10160784
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NV-94013853; ON: DE94013853; NC: NONE; TRN: 94:012282
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
NEVADA TEST SITE
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
GROUND WATER
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
ARID LANDS
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
HYDROLOGY
GEOLOGY
MIXTURES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
052002
053002
053001
WASTE DISPOSAL AND STORAGE
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
SITING