Preliminary Environmental Flow and Transport Modeling at the INEEL
The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is located in southeastern Idaho in the USA. The primary mission since the laboratory was founded in 1949 has been nuclear reactor research. Fifty-two reactors have been built and operated on the INEEL. Other principal activities at the laboratory have been reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Low-level radioactive waste generated on site and mixed and transuranic waste from the Rocky Flats plutonium processing facility in Colorado has been disposed on the INEEL at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC). Waste disposal at the RWMC began in 1952 with shallow land burial in pits and trenches. The INEEL was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989. The resulting environmental assessments of the potential negative health impacts of disposed waste at the RWMC have required the use of predictive numerical simulations. A petroleum reservoir simulator called TETRAD was modified for use in simulating environmental flow and transport. Use of this code has allowed the complex subsurface stratigraphy to be simulated, including an extensive region of unsaturated fractured basalt. Dual continual simulation approaches have been used to assess combined aqueous- and gaseous-phase transport of volatile organic compounds as well as dissolved-phase transport of radionuclides. Calibration of the simulator to available monitoring data has increased the confidence in the simulator results to the point where the model sensitivities are being used to direct additional characterization efforts. Eventually, as the model calibration improves and confidence in the model predictions increases, the simulator will be used as a decision tool for selecting remedial alternatives for the wastes buried at the RWMC. An overview of the overall program including a summary of laboratory actinide migration studies will be presented.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-94ID13223
- OSTI ID:
- 9201
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/CON-99-00110; ON: DE00009201
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 7th International Conference on Radioactive Waste Management and Environmental Remediation (ICEM '99), Nagoya, Japan, 09/26/99 - 09/30/99
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Radioassay at the INEEL During the 3100M3 Project
Preliminary development of a comprehensive calibrated subsurface pathway simulator for the subsurface disposal area at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory