UNSAT-H Version 1. 0: unsaturated flow code documentation and applications for the Hanford Site

Technical Report · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5368246· OSTI ID:5368246

Fayer, M J; Gee, G W; Jones, T L

Waste mangement practices at the Hanford Site have relied havily on near-surface burial. Predicting the future performance of any burial site in terms of the migration of buried contaminants requires a model capable of simulating water flow in the unsaturated soils above the buried waste. The model currently being developed to meet this need is UNSAT-H, which was developed at Pacific Northwest Laboratory for assessing the water dynamics of near-surface waste-disposal sites at the Hanfrod Site. The code will primarily be used to predict deep drainage (i.e., recharge) as a function of environmental conditions such as climate, soil type, and vegetation. UNSAT-H will also simulate various waste-management practices such as placing surface barriers over waste sites. UNSAT-H is a one-dimensional model that simulates the dynamics processes of infiltration, drainage, redistribution, surface evaporation, and uptake of water from soil by plants. UNSAT-H is designed to utilize two auxiliary codes. These codes are DATAINH, which is used to process the input data, and DATAOUT, which is used to process the UNSAT-H output. Operation of the code requires three separate steps. First, the problem to be simulated must be conceptualized in terms of boundary conditions, available data, and soil properties. Next, the data must be correctly formatted for input. Finally, the unput data must be processed, UNSAT-H run, and the output data processed for analysis. This report includes three examples of code use. In the first example, a benchmark test case is run in which the results of UNSAT-H simulations of infiltration are compared with an analytical solution and a numerical solution. The comparisons show excellent agreement for the specific test case, and this agreement provides vertification of the infiltration portion of the UNSAT-H code. The other two examples of code use are a simulation of a layered soil and one of plant transpiration.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 5368246
• Report Number(s): PNL-5899; ON: DE87000273
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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053000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
510301 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Soil-- (-1987)
520301 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Water-- (1987)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100 -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DOCUMENTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FLOW MODELS
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SEDIMENTS
SIMULATION
SOILS
TRANSPIRATION
U CODES
WATER