Assessment of Contaminated Brine Fate and Transport in MB139 at WIPP
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Applied Systems Analysis and Research Dept.
- Sandia National Lab., Carlsbad, NM (United States). Performance Assessment Dept.
Following the radionuclide release event of February 14, 2014 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), actinide contamination has been found on the walls and floor in Panel 7 as a result of a release in Room 7 of Panel 7. It has been proposed to decontaminate Panel 7 at the WIPP by washing contaminated surfaces in the underground with fresh water. A cost-effective cleanup of this contamination would allow for a timely return to waste disposal operations at WIPP. It is expected that the fresh water used to decontaminate Panel 7 will flow as contaminated brine down into the porosity of the materials under the floor – the run-of-mine (ROM) salt above Marker Bed 139 (MB139) and MB139 itself – where its fate will be controlled by the hydraulic and transport properties of MB139. Due to the structural dip of MB139, it is unlikely that this brine would migrate northward towards the Waste-Handling Shaft sump. A few strategically placed shallow small-diameter observation boreholes straddling MB139 would allow for monitoring the flow and fate of this brine after decontamination. Additionally, given that flow through the compacted ROM salt floor and in MB139 would occur under unsaturated (or two-phase) conditions, there is a need to measure the unsaturated flow properties of crushed WIPP salt and salt from the disturbed rock zone (DRZ).
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab., Carlsbad, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1326034
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2014-16153; 533212; TRN: US1700015
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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