Hydrogeologic model for the old Hanford townsite
- Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA (United States)
The Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state produced the country's first plutonium during WW II, and production continued through the end of the cold war. This plutonium production generated significant volumes of chemical and radioactive wastes, some of which were discharged directly to the local sediments as wastewater. Artifical recharge is still the dominating influence on the uppermost and unconfined aquifer over much of the Hanford site. Groundwater from a portion of this aquifer, which is in excess of drinking water standards for tritium, discharges to the Columbia River in the vicinity of the old Hanford townsite. The Hanford site lies within the Pasco basin, which is a structural basin in the Columbia Plateau. Columbia River basalt is overlain by the fluvial and lacustrian Ringold formation. The Ringold is unconformably overlain by the informal Hanford formation. Relatively impermeable basalt outcrops and subcrops along a northwest-southeast-trending anticline across the study area. Hanford sediments include both fluvial and glacial flood deposits lying on an irregular surface of basalt and sedimentary rocks. The coarser flood deposits have very high hydraulic conductivity and probably are the most important conduit for contaminant transport within the aquifer. A finite element model (CFEST-SC) is being used to study the effect of changing river stage on baseflow to the Columbia River near the old Hanford townsite. A steady-state version of the model produces calculated head within 1 m of observed values. Transient flow and solute transport results are expected to help further define the relationship between the contaminated aquifer and the Columbia River.
- OSTI ID:
- 6898288
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9404149--
- Journal Information:
- AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States), Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Vol. 78:4; ISSN 0149-1423; ISSN AABUD2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Hydrogeologic controls on ground-water and contaminant discharge to the Columbia River near the Hanford Townsite
Hydrogeology of the uppermost confined aquifers underlying the Hanford Reservation
Related Subjects
053002 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects-- Radioactive Effluents-- (1992-)
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDES
AQUIFERS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CALCULATION METHODS
COLUMBIA RIVER
ELEMENTS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GROUND RELEASE
GROUND WATER
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
HYDRAULIC TRANSPORT
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LEVELS
LIGHT NUCLEI
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM
PRODUCTION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOISOTOPES
RIVERS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEDIMENTS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
TRANSPORT
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
TRITIUM
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
WATER INFLUX
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES