Geohydrology of the unsaturated zone at the burial site for low-level radioactive waste near Beatty, Nye County, Nevada

Book · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5923888

Nichols, W D

Low-level radioactive solid waste has been buried in trenches at a site near Beatty, NV, since 1962. In 1976, as part of a national program, the US Geological Survey began a study of the geohydrology of the waste burial site to provide a basis for estimating the potential for radionuclide migration in the unsaturated zone beneath the waste burial trenches. The waste burial facility is in the northern Amargosa Desert about 170 kilometers (km) northwest of Las Vegas, NV. The site is underlain by poorly stratified deposits of gravelly or silty sand and sandy gravel, and thick beds of clayey sediments. A numerical analysis demonstrated that a potential exists for deep percolation despite high annual evaporation demands, and provided predictions of the time of year and the antecedent conditions that enhance the probability of deep percolation. Soil moisture profiles obtained monthly over an 18-month period demonstrate that deep percolation does occur. Calculation of downward moisture movement through the waste trench backfill material, on the basis of simplified assumptions, suggests that moisture could have penetrated as much as 6 m below land surface from 1963, when the oldest trenches were closed, to 1980, but that the moisture requirement for such penetration far exceeded the amount of moisture actually available. Steady-state downward movement of moisture at depths greater than 10 m and beneath the waste burial trenches would be on the order of 4 cu m/1,000 yr, assuming a steady flux rate of 0.1 microcentimeter/day. 37 refs., 32 figs., 17 tab.

• OSTI ID: 5923888
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540330* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FEDERAL REGION IX
GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROLOGY
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MOISTURE
NEVADA
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
WATER POLLUTION