Restoration of areas disturbed by site studies for a mined commercial radioactive waste repository: The Basalt Waste Isolation Project (BWIP)
The Basalt Waste Isolation Project (BWIP) was undertaken to environmentally characterize a portion of the US Department of Energy's Hanford Site in Washington State as a potential host for the nation's first mined commercial nuclear waste repository. Studies were terminated by Congress in 1987. Between 1976 and 1987, 72 areas located across the Hanford Site were disturbed by the BWIP. These areas include borehole pads, a large Exploratory Shaft Facility, and the Near Surface Test Facility. Most boreholes were cleared of vegetation, leveled, and stabilized with a thick layer of compacted pit-run gravel and sand. The Near Surface Test Facility consists of three mined adits, a rock-spoils bench, and numerous support facilities. Restoration began in 1988 with the objective of returning sites to pre-existing conditions using native species. The Hanford Site retains some of the last remnants of the shrub-steppe ecosystem in Washington. The primary constraints to restoring native vegetation at Hanford are low precipitation and the presence of cheatgrass, an extremely capable alien competitor. 5 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 6329366
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-16486; CONF-890192-1; ON: DE89008250
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Symposium on restoration: the new management challenge, Oakland, CA, USA, 16 Jan 1989; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Descriptions of plant communities at the proposed reference repository location and implications for reclamation of disturbed ground
Interim reclamation report, Basalt Waste Isolation project: Boreholes, 1989
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11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
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DECOMMISSIONING
HANFORD RESERVATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
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US ERDA
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