Discharge and flow distribution, Columbia River estuary. Open-file report

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1973

OSTI ID:4409352

Lutz, G A; Hubbell, D W; Stevens, Jr, H H

Low-level radioactive wastes were discharged into the Columbia River at the Hanford Reservation, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, near Richland, Wash. from 1944 until early 1971. In the river, the various radionuclides that made up the waste associated with sediment and biota or remained in solution and subsequently were distributed throughout the estuary and into the Pacific Ocean. To provide information on the amount of radionuclides being transported through the estuary, continuous records of water discharge were obtained near both the upper and lower ends of the estuary during 1968 to 70. Complex velocity distributions, mainly due to salinity gradients, made it impossible to use conventional methods of measuring discharge in the lower part of the estuary. A new technique, MOVD (measurement of velocity dlstribution by moving boat), was developed for determining the magnitude and direction of the water velocity throughout the entire depth at a vertical. Repetitive measurements at a series of verticals in cross sectio- s at the Beaver Army Terminal, Oreg., Columbia River mile 53.3, and at Astoria, Oreg., Columbia River mile 14, defined flow hydrographs at these locations during half tidal cycles on a number of occasions. The defined flow hydrographs were used to calibrate mathematical models for computing continuous records of discharge and rates of transport of radionuclides at cross sections along the longitudinal axis of the estuary. (CH)

• Research Organization: Geological Survey, Bay St. Louis, Miss. (USA)
• NSA Number: NSA-29-002641
• OSTI ID: 4409352
• Report Number(s): TID--26445
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

*COLUMBIA RIVER-- RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
*ESTUARIES-- RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
*RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL-- LIQUID WASTES
DEPTH
FLUID FLOW
HYDRODYNAMICS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
N44330* --Environmental & Earth Sciences--Radioactivity Monitoring & Transport--Water
N52200 --Nuclear Materials & Waste Management--Disposal & Storage
PACIFIC OCEAN
RADIOISOTOPES
TIDE
VELOCITY