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Title: Summary of data concerning radiological contamination at well PM-2, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada

Abstract

Analysis of water from well Pahute Mesa No. 2 (PM-2), on Pahute Mesa in the extreme northwestern part of the Nevada Test Site, indicated tritium concentrations above background levels in August 1993. A coordinated investigation of the tritium occurrence in well PM-2 was undertaken by the Hydrologic Resources Management Program of the US Department of Energy. Geologic and hydrologic properties of the hydrogeologic units were characterized using existing information. Soil around the well and water quality in the well were characterized during the investigation. The purpose of this report is to present existing information and results from a coordinated investigation of tritium occurrence. The objectives of the overall investigation include: (1) determination of the type and concentration of contamination; (2) identification of the source and mechanism of contamination; (3) estimation of the extent of radiological contamination; (4) initiation of appropriate monitoring of the contamination; and (5) reporting of investigation results. Compiled and tabulated data of the area are presented. The report also includes characterization of geology, soil, hydrology, and water quality data.

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Geological Survey, Carson City, NV (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
441725
Report Number(s):
USGS-OFR-96-599
ON: DE97003357; TRN: 97:005038
DOE Contract Number:
AI08-91NV11040
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
05 NUCLEAR FUELS; 45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE; NEVADA TEST SITE; WATER CHEMISTRY; SOIL CHEMISTRY; SITE CHARACTERIZATION; WATER WELLS; TRITIUM; RADIATION MONITORING; RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; COMPILED DATA; HYDROLOGY

Citation Formats

Russell, G.M., and Locke, G.L. Summary of data concerning radiological contamination at well PM-2, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. United States: N. p., 1997. Web. doi:10.2172/441725.
Russell, G.M., & Locke, G.L. Summary of data concerning radiological contamination at well PM-2, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. United States. doi:10.2172/441725.
Russell, G.M., and Locke, G.L. Sat . "Summary of data concerning radiological contamination at well PM-2, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada". United States. doi:10.2172/441725. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/441725.
@article{osti_441725,
title = {Summary of data concerning radiological contamination at well PM-2, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada},
author = {Russell, G.M. and Locke, G.L.},
abstractNote = {Analysis of water from well Pahute Mesa No. 2 (PM-2), on Pahute Mesa in the extreme northwestern part of the Nevada Test Site, indicated tritium concentrations above background levels in August 1993. A coordinated investigation of the tritium occurrence in well PM-2 was undertaken by the Hydrologic Resources Management Program of the US Department of Energy. Geologic and hydrologic properties of the hydrogeologic units were characterized using existing information. Soil around the well and water quality in the well were characterized during the investigation. The purpose of this report is to present existing information and results from a coordinated investigation of tritium occurrence. The objectives of the overall investigation include: (1) determination of the type and concentration of contamination; (2) identification of the source and mechanism of contamination; (3) estimation of the extent of radiological contamination; (4) initiation of appropriate monitoring of the contamination; and (5) reporting of investigation results. Compiled and tabulated data of the area are presented. The report also includes characterization of geology, soil, hydrology, and water quality data.},
doi = {10.2172/441725},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1997},
month = {Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1997}
}

Technical Report:

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  • Ground-water test well C was drilled to a depth of l,70l feet with rotary and cable-tool drilling equipment. It penetrated 2l5 feet of valley fill of Quaternary and Tertiary (?) age, 1,l40 feet of tuff of Tertiary age, and 346 feet of limestone of Paleozoic age. The static water level is about l,544 feet below the land surface, or 2,377 feet above sea level. Water occurs only in the limestone and is yielded chiefly from fractures. The well was pumped at rates of 60, 62, and 2l2 gallons per minute for protracted periods, and apparently could yield much more. Themore » drawdown created by pumping was largely obscured by barometricpressure and possibly by earth-tide effects, but probably was no more than 0.5 foot, and the specific capacity therefore may be about 450 gallons per minute per foot of drawdown. Water from test well C is of the sodium bicarbonate type with a relatively high percentage of calcium and sulfate. (auth)« less
  • Ground-water test well B was drilled to a depth of 1675 ft with rotary and cable-tool drilling equipment. It penetrated 548 ft of alluvium of Quaternary and Tertiary (?) age, 222 ft of lake deposits of Ouaternary and Tertiary (?) age, and 905 ft of tuff of Tertiary age. The static water level is about 1511 ft below the land surface or 2418 ft above sea level. Water occurs in densely welded tuff and is yielded chiefly from fractures. In two tests by bailing the aquifer yielded 6 and 8 gallons per minute to the well, and on this basismore » the specific capacity of the well was less than 0.16 gallon per minute per foot of drawdown. The tuff contains zeolite, clay, quartz, cristobalite, feldspar, mica, and calcite. The lake deposits contain essentially these same minerals but differ in having more varieties of clay minerals. Laboratory measurements of tuff samples showed that the coefficients of permeability of the welded and the partially welded tuffs are less than 0.03 gallon per day per square foot, but that of the vitric-pumiceous tuff ranges from 0.3 to 2 gallons per day per square foot. Geophysical logs, a summary of contract costs, detailed descriptions of drilling, casing, cementing, and hydraulic testing operations, x- ray mineralogical analyses, physical property analyses, and a detailed lithologic log are presented. (auth)« less
  • This technical letter summarizes the results of drilling groundwater test well 6 and presents an abridged lithologic log, well construction information, and results of hydraulic tests made in the well. Test well 6 (designated well J-13 by NASA) is one of several wells drilled in support of the Long Range Program of the US Geological Survey to study the geology and hydrology of the Nevada Test Site. The well is located near the east rim of Fortymile Canyon wash in western Jackass Flats, about 12 miles north of Lathrop Wells, Nye County. The Nevada State Coordinates of the site aremore » N 749,209 and E 579,651, and the altitude of the land surface is about 3318 feet.« less
  • The drawdown and recovery data for three pump tests, three recovery tests and six injection tests in well USW H-1 are reduced to determine hydraulic conductivity and storativity, assuming the medium is homogeneous, isotropic, and porous. Conductivity ranges from about 10{sup -5} m/s in the upper zone tested to 10{sup -10} m/s in the lower test zone, and storativity ranges from about 5 x 10{sup -7} to about 0.5. This study was conducted to support assessment of the behavior of the groundwater system at Yucca Mountain near the Nevada Test Site in southwest Nevada. After the work for the reportmore » was completed, the US Geological Survey published estimates of hydraulic conductivity based on the same test data analyzed here. This report is therefore also an independent confirmation of hydraulic conductivity estimates for well USW H-1 for the saturated zone, as well as a listing of storativity estimates. 5 refs., 23 figs., 3 tabs.« less
  • Well J-13 was drilled to a depth of 1063.1 meters by using air-hydraulic-rotary drilling equipment. The well penetrated 135.6 meters of alluvium of Quaternary and Tertiary age and 927.5 meters of tuff of Tertiary age. The Topopah Spring Member of the Paintbrush Tuff, the principal aquifer, was penetrated from depths of 207.3 to 449.6 meters; a pumping test indicated its transmissivity is 120 meters squared per day, and its hydraulic conductivity is 1.0 meters per day. Below the Topopah Spring Member, tuff units are confining beds; transmissivities range from 0.10 to 4.5 meters squared per day, and hydraulic conductivities rangemore » from 0.0026 to 0.15 meter per day. Confining beds penetrated below a depth of 719.3 meters had the smallest transmissivities (0.10 to 0.63 meter squared per day) and hydraulic conductivities (0.0026 to 0.0056 meter per day). A static water level of about 282.2 meters was measured for the various water-bearing tuff units above a depth of 645.6 meters. Below a depth of 772.7 meters, the static water level was slightly deeper, 283.3 to 283.6 meters. Ground water sampled from well J-13 is a sodium bicarbonate water containing small concentrations of calcium, magnesium, silica, and sulfate, which is a typical analysis of water from tuff. Apparent age of the ground water, derived from carbon-14 age dating, is 9900 years. 15 references, 24 figures, 13 tables.« less