Evaluation of the performance of solidified commercial low-level wastes in an arid climate

Conference · Sat Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6361972

Graham, M J; Walter, M B

Shallow land burial is being used as a disposal method for commercial low-level waste at waste disposal sites in arid (Hanford site near Richland, Washington) and humid (Barnwell, South Carolina) climatic regions. A field lysimeter facility has been established at the Hanford site in which to conduct waste-form leaching tests. The primary objective of this research is to determine typical source terms generated by commercial solidified low-level wastes. The field lysimeter facility consists of ten 3-m-deep by 1.8-m-diameter, closed-bottom lysimeters around a central instrument caisson, 4 m in diameter. Commercial cement and vinyl ester-styrene waste samples were removed from 210-L drums and placed in the 1.8-m-diameter lysimeters. Two bitumen samples are planned to be emplaced in the facility in 1984. The central caisson provides access to the instrumentation in the individual lysimeters and allows selective sampling of the soil and waste forms. Suction candles (ceramic cups) placed around the waste will be used to periodically collect soil water samples for chemical analysis. Meteorological data, moisture content, and soil temperature are automatically monitored at the facility. Characterization of the soils and waste forms have been partially completed. These data consist of moisture release characteristics, particle size distribution, concentrations and distributions of radionuclides in the waste forms, concentrations of radionuclides in the waste streams, and concentrations of hydrophilic organic species in one of the waste steams. 8 references, 3 figures, 5 tables.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6361972
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-12538; CONF-8409115-12; ON: DE85002525
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ARID LANDS
BITUMENS
BUILDING MATERIALS
CEMENTS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DISSOLUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
LEACHING
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POLYMERS
PORTLAND CEMENT
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOILS
SOLIDIFICATION
TAR
WASTE FORMS
WASTES