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

Book · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:6941606

Nichols, W D

Low-level radioactive solid waste has been buried in trenches at a site near Beatty, Nevada, 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. Data collected include meteorological information for calibration of a long-term water budget analysis, soil moisture profiles, soil water potentials, and hydraulic properties of representative unsaturated sediment samples to a depth of about 10 m. The region is arid; mean annual precipitation at Lathrop Wells, 30 km south of the site, is only 7.4 cm. Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity computed from laboratory analyses of representative samples ranges from 10 to the {minus}13th power to 10 to the {minus}4th power cm/day. Evaporation studies over a 2-yr period were used to calibrate a numerical procedure for analyzing long-term precipitation data and estimating annual water budgets during the 15-yr period 1962-76. This analysis (1) demonstrated that a potential exists for deep percolation, despite high annual evaporation demands, and (2) provided predictions of the time of yr and the antecedent conditions which enhance the probability of deep percolation. Soil moisture profiles obtained monthly over an 18-mo period demonstrate that deep percolation does occur. Soil moisture conditions antecedent to an observed deep-percolation event, and the time of yr when the percolation occurred, support the interpretations based on long-term meteorological records.

• OSTI ID: 6941606
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540230* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540250 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
540330 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVAPORATION
FEDERAL REGION IX
GEOCHEMICAL SURVEYS
GROUND WATER
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROLOGY
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
NEVADA
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POLLUTION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SITE SELECTION
SOILS
SURVEYS
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
WATER POLLUTION