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Title: Hanford Groundwater Remediation

Abstract

By 1990 nearly 50 years of producing plutonium put approximately 1.70 E+12 liters (450 billion gallons) of liquid wastes into the soil of the 1,518-square kilometer (586-square mile) Hanford Site in southeast Washington State. The liquid releases consisted of chemicals used in laboratory experiments, manufacturing and rinsing uranium fuel, dissolving that fuel after irradiation in Hanford's nuclear reactors, and in liquefying plutonium scraps needed to feed other plutonium-processing operations. Chemicals were also added to the water used to cool Hanford's reactors to prevent corrosion in the reactor tubes. In addition, water and acid rinses were used to clean plutonium deposits from piping in Hanford's large radiochemical facilities. All of these chemicals became contaminated with radionuclides. As Hanford raced to help win World War II, and then raced to produce materials for the Cold War, these radioactive liquid wastes were released to the Site's sandy soils. Early scientific experiments seemed to show that the most highly radioactive components of these liquids would bind to the soil just below the surface of the land, thus posing no threat to groundwater. Other experiments predicted that the water containing most radionuclides would take hundreds of years to seep into groundwater, decaying (or losing) mostmore » of its radioactivity before reaching the groundwater or subsequently flowing into the Columbia River, although it was known that some contaminants like tritium would move quickly. Evidence today, however, shows that many contaminants have reached the Site's groundwater and the Columbia River, with more on its way. Over 259 square kilometers (100 square miles) of groundwater at Hanford have contaminant levels above drinking-water standards. Also key to successfully cleaning up the Site is providing information resources and public-involvement opportunities to Hanford's stakeholders. This large, passionate, diverse, and geographically dispersed community is united in its desire to protect the Columbia River and have a voice in Hanford's future. This paper presents the challenges, and then discusses the progress and efforts underway to reduce the risk posed by contaminated groundwater at Hanford. While Hanford groundwater is not a source of drinking water on or off the Site, there are possible near-shore impacts where it flows into the Columbia River. Therefore, this remediation is critical to the overall efforts to clean up the Site, as well as protect a natural resource. (authors)« less

Authors:
;  [1]; ; ;  [2]
  1. U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, 825 Jadwin Avenue, Richland, WA 99352 (United States)
  2. Fluor Hanford, P.O. Box 1000, Richland, WA 99352 (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 13023, Tucson, AZ, 85732-3023 (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
21210674
Report Number(s):
INIS-US-09-WM-06383
TRN: US09V1102081136
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: Waste Management 2006 Symposium - WM'06 - Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals, Tucson, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 2 Mar 2006; Other Information: Country of input: France; 16 refs
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; COLUMBIA RIVER; DRINKING WATER; GROUND WATER; HANFORD RESERVATION; LIQUID WASTES; NUCLEAR FUELS; PLUTONIUM; RADIOACTIVE WASTES; REMEDIAL ACTION; REPROCESSING; TRITIUM; URANIUM; WASHINGTON

Citation Formats

Charboneau, B, Thompson, K M, Wilde, R, Ford, B, and Gerber, M. Hanford Groundwater Remediation. United States: N. p., 2006. Web.
Charboneau, B, Thompson, K M, Wilde, R, Ford, B, & Gerber, M. Hanford Groundwater Remediation. United States.
Charboneau, B, Thompson, K M, Wilde, R, Ford, B, and Gerber, M. 2006. "Hanford Groundwater Remediation". United States.
@article{osti_21210674,
title = {Hanford Groundwater Remediation},
author = {Charboneau, B and Thompson, K M and Wilde, R and Ford, B and Gerber, M},
abstractNote = {By 1990 nearly 50 years of producing plutonium put approximately 1.70 E+12 liters (450 billion gallons) of liquid wastes into the soil of the 1,518-square kilometer (586-square mile) Hanford Site in southeast Washington State. The liquid releases consisted of chemicals used in laboratory experiments, manufacturing and rinsing uranium fuel, dissolving that fuel after irradiation in Hanford's nuclear reactors, and in liquefying plutonium scraps needed to feed other plutonium-processing operations. Chemicals were also added to the water used to cool Hanford's reactors to prevent corrosion in the reactor tubes. In addition, water and acid rinses were used to clean plutonium deposits from piping in Hanford's large radiochemical facilities. All of these chemicals became contaminated with radionuclides. As Hanford raced to help win World War II, and then raced to produce materials for the Cold War, these radioactive liquid wastes were released to the Site's sandy soils. Early scientific experiments seemed to show that the most highly radioactive components of these liquids would bind to the soil just below the surface of the land, thus posing no threat to groundwater. Other experiments predicted that the water containing most radionuclides would take hundreds of years to seep into groundwater, decaying (or losing) most of its radioactivity before reaching the groundwater or subsequently flowing into the Columbia River, although it was known that some contaminants like tritium would move quickly. Evidence today, however, shows that many contaminants have reached the Site's groundwater and the Columbia River, with more on its way. Over 259 square kilometers (100 square miles) of groundwater at Hanford have contaminant levels above drinking-water standards. Also key to successfully cleaning up the Site is providing information resources and public-involvement opportunities to Hanford's stakeholders. This large, passionate, diverse, and geographically dispersed community is united in its desire to protect the Columbia River and have a voice in Hanford's future. This paper presents the challenges, and then discusses the progress and efforts underway to reduce the risk posed by contaminated groundwater at Hanford. While Hanford groundwater is not a source of drinking water on or off the Site, there are possible near-shore impacts where it flows into the Columbia River. Therefore, this remediation is critical to the overall efforts to clean up the Site, as well as protect a natural resource. (authors)},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21210674}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2006},
month = {Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2006}
}

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