An arid zone lysimeter facility for performance assessment and closure investigations at the Nevada Test Site
- Bechtel Nevada Corp., Las Vegas, NV (United States)
- USDOE Nevada Operations Office, Las Vegas, NV (United States). Waste Management Div.
Two precision weighing lysimeters were installed near the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) on the Nevada Test Site to provide support for investigations of water, solute, and heat fluxes in the near-surface of the soil. The lysimeters consist of soil tanks with a volume of 16 cubic meters mounted on a sensitive scale. One lysimeter was revegetated with native shrubs whereas the other was kept bare to stimulate a non-vegetated waste cover. Data consisting of physical and hydrological properties of the lysimeter soils, thermal and moisture conditions in the lysimeters, and atmospheric boundary conditions are being collected for calibrating and verifying computer models for simulating the flow of water and heat in the near surface alluvium at the Area 5 RWMS. This effort will provide site- specific models for demonstration of ``no migration`` of constituents to the water table. Moisture and thermal conditions in the lysimeters are monitored daily using time domain reflectometry probes and thermocouple psychrometers. Daily evaporation and evapotranspiration are calculated from the lysimeter scales. Meteorological variables are monitored by sensors mounted on a 3 meter tower adjacent to the lysimeters. An array of soil-solution samplers to be installed through the side of the soil tank will allow studies of waste mobility under natural conditions. Conceptual designs for closure at the RWMS are focused on using an upper layer of repacked native alluvium, which can be tested with the lysimeters. In addition, performance of other components such as a capillary barrier can be tested by installing a scaled version in one of the lysimeter tanks.
- Research Organization:
- Bechtel Nevada Corp., Las Vegas, NV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC08-91NV10833
- OSTI ID:
- 251140
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NV/10833-34; CONF-960212-94; ON: DE96012182
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste management `96: HLW, LLW, mixed wastes and environmental restoration - working towards a cleaner environment, Tucson, AZ (United States), 25-29 Feb 1996; Other Information: PBD: [1996]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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