Subsurface barrier verification technologies, informal report
One of the more promising remediation options available to the DOE waste management community is subsurface barriers. Some of the uses of subsurface barriers include surrounding and/or containing buried waste, as secondary confinement of underground storage tanks, to direct or contain subsurface contaminant plumes and to restrict remediation methods, such as vacuum extraction, to a limited area. To be most effective the barriers should be continuous and depending on use, have few or no breaches. A breach may be formed through numerous pathways including: discontinuous grout application, from joints between panels and from cracking due to grout curing or wet-dry cycling. The ability to verify barrier integrity is valuable to the DOE, EPA, and commercial sector and will be required to gain full public acceptance of subsurface barriers as either primary or secondary confinement at waste sites. It is recognized that no suitable method exists for the verification of an emplaced barrier`s integrity. The large size and deep placement of subsurface barriers makes detection of leaks challenging. This becomes magnified if the permissible leakage from the site is low. Detection of small cracks (fractions of an inch) at depths of 100 feet or more has not been possible using existing surface geophysical techniques. Compounding the problem of locating flaws in a barrier is the fact that no placement technology can guarantee the completeness or integrity of the emplaced barrier. This report summarizes several commonly used or promising technologies that have been or may be applied to in-situ barrier continuity verification.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH00016
- OSTI ID:
- 10109677
- Report Number(s):
- BNL--61127; ON: DE95004950
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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