Geochemical Data Package for Performance Assessment Calculations Related to the Savannah River Site
The Savannah River Site disposes of certain types of radioactive waste within subsurface-engineered facilities. One of the tools used to establish the capacity of a given site to safely store radioactive waste (i.e., that a site does not exceed its Waste Acceptance Criteria) is the Performance Assessment (PA). The objective of this document is to provide the geochemical values for the PA calculations. This work is being conducted as part of the on-going maintenance program that permits the PA to periodically update existing calculations when new data becomes available. Because application of values without full understanding of their original purpose may lead to misuse, this document also provides the geochemical conceptual model, approach used for selecting the values, the justification for selecting data, and the assumptions made to assure that the conceptual and numerical geochemical models are reasonably conservative (i.e., reflect conditions that will tend to predict the maximum risk to the hypothetical recipient). The geochemical parameters describe transport processes for 38 elements (>90 radioisotopes) potentially occurring within eight disposal units (Slit Trenches, Engineered Trenches, Low Activity Waste (LAW) Vault, Intermediate Level (ILV) Vaults, TRU-Pad-1, Naval Reactor Waste Pads, Components-in-Grout Trenches, and Saltstone Facility). This work builds upon well-documented work from previous PA calculations (McDowell-Boyer et al. 2000). The new geochemical concepts introduced in this data package are: (1) In the past, solubility products were used only in a few conditions (element existing in a specific environmental setting). This has been expanded to >100 conditions. (2) Radionuclide chemistry in cementitious environments is described through the use of both the Kd and apparent solubility concentration limit. Furthermore, the solid phase is assumed to age during the assessment period (thousands of years), resulting in three main types of controlling solid phases, each possessing a unique set of radionuclide sorption parameters (Kd and solubility concentration limit). (3) A large amount of recent site-specific sorption research has been conducted since the last PA (McDowell-Boyer et al. 2000). These new data have replaced previous Kd values derived from literature values, thus reducing uncertainty and improving accuracy. Finally, because this document will be used by future PA calculations and external acceptance of the document will eventually be required, this document was extensively reviewed. The review process, including the internal review, site review, and external review process is described.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-96SR18500
- OSTI ID:
- 890210
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-TR-2006-00004; TRN: US0604713
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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