Uranium Distribution Coefficient (Kd) Determination and Use in Assessing Transport, Fate, and Risk at Jefferson Proving Ground, I - 18593
- HydroGeoLogic Inc. (United States)
- Leidos, McLean, VA 22102 (United States)
Jefferson Proving Ground (JPG), located near Madison, Indiana is a 55,000-acre site with firing ranges for test firing of conventional munitions and depleted uranium penetrators. The penetrators were fired from three positions, but the majority (89 percent) was fired from a single location. Impacts from the penetrators along this firing line created an impact trench roughly 5 meters (m) to 8 m wide, 1,200 m long, and 1 m deep. Periodic surface sweeps were conducted to recover test fired penetrators, but roughly 73,500 kilograms (kg) of depleted uranium (DU) still remain at JPG. Co-located and intermingled with the penetrators are unexploded ordnance (UXO), making complete recovery and site restoration both risky and costly. Understanding the transport and fate of the depleted uranium at JPG was critical to assessing the potential radiological risks posed to human health and the environment from the penetrators and associated impacted soils on site. JPG is underlain by loess (wind-blown silt), glacial till, and carbonate bedrock, and transected by surface water (Big Creek, Middle Fork Creek, and smaller tributaries). The Army determined site-specific values of the uranium distribution coefficient (Kd) for each of the underlying units. The Army evaluated uranium transport and fate in column, groundwater, and surface water models. The Army used the Residual Radiation (RESRAD)- OFFSITE code to complete the uranium risk assessment for a period of 1,000 years. Results from the site-specific Kd tests are presented in this paper along with its use and results in assessing transport, fate, and potential risks associated with exposure to the penetrators remaining at JPG. The authors supported the decommissioning activities discussed in this paper under the direction of and with funding from the U.S. Army, specifically the U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM, Robert N. Cherry), U.S. Army Environmental Command (AEC, Joan F. Jackson), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE, Andrew [Brooks] Evens). (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22977847
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-20-WM-18593; TRN: US21V0475017892
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2018: 44. Annual Waste Management Conference, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 18-22 Mar 2018; Other Information: Country of input: France; 26 refs.; Available online at: https://www.xcdsystem.com/wmsym/2018/index.html
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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