2003 Initial Assessments of Closure for the C Tank Farm Field Investigation Report (FIR):Numerical Simulations
In support of CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc.'s (CHG) preparation of a Field Investigative Report (FIR) for the closure of the Hanford Site Single-Shell Tank (SST) Waste Management Area (WMA) tank farms, a set of numerical simulations of flow and solute transport was executed to predict the performance of surface barriers for reducing long-term risks from potential groundwater contamination at the C Farm WMA. This report documents the simulation of 14 cases (and two verification cases) involving two-dimensional cross sections through the C Farm WMA tanks C-103 – C-112. Utilizing a unit release scenario at Tank C-112, four different types of leaks were simulated. These simulations assessed the impact of leakage during retrieval, past leaks, and tank residual wastes and tank ancillary equipment following closure activities. . Two transported solutes were considered: uranium-238 (U-238) and technetium-99 (Tc-99). To evaluate the impact of sorption to the subsurface materials, six different retardation coefficients were simulated for U-238. Overall, simulations results for the C Farm WMA showed that only a small fraction of the U-238 with retardation factors greater than 0.6 migrated from the vadose zone in all of the cases. For the conservative solute, Tc-99, results showed that the simulations investigating leakages during retrieval demonstrated the highest WMA peak concentrations and the earliest arrival times due to the high infiltration rate before the use of surface barriers and the addition of water into the system. Simulations investigating past leaks showed similar peaks and arrival times as the retrieval leak cases. Several different release rates were used to investigate contaminant transport from residual tank wastes. All showed similar peak concentrations and arrival times, except for the lowest initial release rate, which was 1,000 times slower than the highest release rate. Past leaks were also investigated with different release rate models, including advection dominated, diffusion dominated, and solubility controlled releases. Of the three models, peak concentrations were lowest and arrival times were later for the solubility controlled model. For the tank ancillary equipment leak case, the diffusion dominated release rate model yielded peak concentrations and late arrival times that were similar to the majority of the past leak cases for residual tank wastes.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 15010539
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-14334; 830403000; TRN: US0500244
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
CLOSURES
SOLUBILITY
SORPTION
STORAGE FACILITIES
TECHNETIUM 99
URANIUM 238
HANFORD RESERVATION
CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
C Tank Farm
numerical simulations
contaminant transport