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Field studies of engineered barriers for closure of low level radioactive waste landfills at Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

Conference ·
OSTI ID:106267
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  1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States). Environmental Science Group
The Los Alamos National Laboratory examined water balance relationships for four different landfill cover designs containing engineered barriers. These field experiments were performed at Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA, in 1.0- by 10.0-m plots with downhill slopes of 5, 10, 15, and 25%. This plot size and these slopes were chosen to complement similar experiments currently being performed at the Universities of Hamburg, Munchen, Darmstadt, and Karlsruhe, Germany, as part of the US Department of Energy`s International Technology Exchange and Environmental Restoration programs. Field measurements of seepage, precipitation, interflow, runoff, and soil water content were collected in each of the 16 plots representing four slopes each with four cover designs: Conventional, EPA, Loam Capillary Barrier and Clay Loam Capillary Barrier. A seepage collection system was installed beneath each cover design to evaluate the influence of slope length on seepage using a series of four metal pans filled with medium gravel that were placed end-to-end in the bottom of each field plot. An automated waterflow data-logging system was used to collect hourly seepage, interflow and runoff data and consisted of 100 100-liter tanks, each of which was equipped with an ultrasonic liquid-level sensor and a motor-operated ball valve used to drain the tank. Soil water content was routinely monitored every six hours at each of 212 locations throughout the 16 plots with time domain reflectrometry (TDR) techniques using an automated and multiplexed measurement system. Field data are presented to show the effects of slope and slope length on the performance of each landfill cover design for the first 15 months of this field experiment.
OSTI ID:
106267
Report Number(s):
CONF-930906--; ISBN 0-7918-0691-X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English