Hydrogeology and geochemistry of the unsaturated zone, Radioactive Waste Management Complex, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho

Technical Report · Sun Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5230122

Rightmire, C T; Lewis, B D

To assess the potential migration of low-level radioactive waste in the shallow subsurface, a study on the geochemistry of the unsaturated zone at the Radioactive Waste Management complex (RWMC), Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, on the eastern Snake River Plain in southeastern Idaho was done. Stable isotope and chemical data suggest that the perched water obseved beneath the RWMC is not due to vertical infiltration through the ground surface, but is due to lateral flow of water that infiltrated through the diversion ponds. The water accumulates as a perched mount on the thick, laterally continuous sedimentary interbed at a depth of 73 meters (m) and then moves about 1.5 kilometers to the northweast beneath the RWMC. Infiltrating water can move clay, silt, and sand downward through sedimentary material and open fracturs, at least to the interbed at a depth of 73 m. Oxygen isotope exchange and clay mineral alteration caused by extruded lava have been observed in the upper 0.86 m of the sedimentary interbed at a depth of 34 m an in the upper 2.65 m of the sedimentary interbed at a depth of 73 m. An examination of the sediment-basalt interrelation shows that the flows overlying the interbed at a depth of 73 m are substantially thicker than the flows overlying the interbed at a depth of 34 m (16 to 23 m comapred to 6 to 10 m). Sedimentary material at the RWMC shows isotopic and soils evidence of at least two major climatic changes within the last 200,000 years. 65 refs., 18 figs., 19 tabs.

• Research Organization: Geological Survey, Idaho Falls, ID (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-76ID01570
• OSTI ID: 5230122
• Report Number(s): DOE/ID-22073; MISC-20487; ON: DE88007736
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
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FLOW RATE
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GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
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MASS TRANSFER
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NUCLEAR FACILITIES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLE SIZE
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RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
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SIZE
STRATIGRAPHY
SURFACE WATERS
US DOE
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VOLCANIC ROCKS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
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WATER