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Development of a prototype plan for the effective closure of a waste disposal site in Los Alamos, New Mexico

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6378416· OSTI ID:6378416
The purpose of this study was to develop a prototype plan for the effective closure and stabilization of a semiarid low-level waste disposal site. This prototype plan will provide demonstrated closure techniques for a trench in a disposal site at Los Alamos based on previous shallow land burial (SLB) field research both at the Los Alamos Experimental Engineered Test Facility (EETF), and at a waste disposal area at Los Alamos. The accuracy of modeling soil water storage by two hydrologic models was tested by comparing simulation results with field measurements of soil moisture in eight experimental landfill cover systems at Waste Disposal Area B having a range of well-defined soil profiles and vegetative covers. Regression analysis showed that one of the two models tested represented soil moisture more accurately than the second model. The accuracy of modeling all of the parameters of the water balance equation was then evaluated using field data from the Integrated Systems Demonstration plots at the EETF. Optimized parameters were developed for one model to describe observed values of deep percolation, evapotranspiration, and runoff from the field plots containing an SLB trench cap configuration.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
6378416
Report Number(s):
LA-11282-MS; ON: DE89009131
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English