Radionuclides in shallow groundwater at Solid Waste Storage Area 5 North, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Technical Report · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10141790· OSTI ID:10141790

Ashwood, T L; Marsh, Jr, J D

This report presents a compilation of groundwater monitoring data from Solid Waste Storage Area (SWSA) 5 North at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) between November 1989 and September 1993. Monitoring data were collected as part of the Active Sites Environmental Monitoring Program that was implemented in 1989 in response to DOE Order 5820.2A. SWSA 5 North was established for the retrievable storage of transuranic (TRU) wastes in 1970. Four types of storage have been used within SWSA 5 North: bunkers, vaults, wells, and trenches. The fenced portion of SWSA 5 North covers about 3.7 ha (9 acres) in the White Oak Creek watershed south of ORNL. The area is bounded by White Oak Creek and two ephemeral tributaries of White Oak Creek. Since 1989, groundwater has been monitored in wells around SWSA 5 North. During that time, elevated gross alpha contamination (reaching as high as 210 Bq/L) has consistently been detected in well 516. This well is adjacent to burial trenches in the southwest corner of the area. Water level measurements in wells 516 and 518 suggest that water periodically inundates the bottom of some of those trenches. Virtually all of the gross alpha contamination is generated by Curium 244 and Americium 241. A special geochemical investigation of well 516 suggests that nearly all of the Curium 44 and Americium 241 is dissolved or associated with dissolved organic matter. These are being transported at the rate of about 2 m/year from the burial trenches, through well 516, to White Oak Creek, where Curium 244 has been detected in a few bank seeps. Concentrations at these seeps are near detection levels (<1 Bq/L).

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 10141790
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-12722; ON: DE94009862; TRN: 94:007597
• Resource Relation: Other Information: DN: Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 4264; PBD: Apr 1994
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
GROUND WATER
MONITORING
CONTAMINATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
CURIUM 244
AMERICIUM 241
COMPILED DATA
052002
054000
540230
WASTE DISPOSAL AND STORAGE
HEALTH AND SAFETY
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT