Hydrogeologic performance assessment analysis of the commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal facility near West Valley, New York

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991

OSTI ID:5615298

Bergeron, M P; Smoot, J L; Kemner, M L; Cronin, W E ^[1]

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1. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)

A hydrogeologic performance assessment of the commercial low-level waste site near West Valley, New York, was performed for two pathways: a shallow lateral pathway where trench water can potentially migrate laterally through fractured and weathered till to nearby streams and a deep vertical pathway where leachate can migrate downward through unweathered till and laterally offsite in a lacustrine unit. Along the shallow pathway, little physical site evidence is available to indicate what the degree of lateral migration can be. Past modeling showed that overflowing trench water would migrate laterally some distance before migrating downward into the unweathered till. If water did reach a nearby stream, calculations show that decay, adsorption, and stream dilution would reduce leachate concentration to acceptable levels. Within the deep pathway, tritium and {sup 14}C were the only radionuclides released in any significant concentrations. Predicted tritium levels are well below regulatory limits; however, predicted peak {sup 14}C concentrations, while meeting the 25 mrem/yr limit using the drinking-water-only exposure scenario, exceed the limit for the full garden scenario. Site information on {sup 14}C release rates and geochemical behavior has considerable uncertainty and would need to be more fully evaluated in a licensing situation. 58 refs., 32 figs., 12 tabs.

• Research Organization: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA). Div. of Low-Level Waste Management and Decommissioning; Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USNRC; Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 5615298
• Report Number(s): NUREG/CR-5737; PNL-7688; ON: TI91014647
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
GROUND WATER
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SURFACE WATERS
CARBON 14
CLIMATES
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGY
HYDROLOGY
LEACHING
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
NEW YORK
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
REGULATIONS
TOPOGRAPHY
TRITIUM
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON ISOTOPES
CHEMISTRY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISSOLUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION II
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOISOTOPES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
540330* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540320 - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage