Ground-water contribution to dose from past Hanford operations
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEOR) Project is being conducted to estimate radiation doses that populations and individuals could have received from Hanford Site operations from 1944 to the present. Four possible pathways by which radionuclides originating in ground water on the Hanford Site could have reached the public have been identified: 1) through contaminated ground water migrating to the Columbia River; 2) through wells on or adjacent to the Hanford Site; 3) through wells that draw some or all of their water from the Columbia River (riparian wells); and 4) through atmospheric deposition resulting in the contamination of a small watershed that, in turn, results in contamination of a shallow well or spring. These four pathways make up the "ground-water pathway ," which is the subject of this study. The objective of the study was to assess the extent to which the groundwater pathway contributed to radiation doses that populations or individuals may have received from past operations at Hanford. The assessment presented in this report was performed by 1) reviewing the extensive literature on ground water and ground-water monitoring at Hanford and 2) performing simple calculations to estimate radionuclide concentrations in ground water and the Columbia River resulting from ground-water discharge. Radiation doses that would result from exposure to this ground water and surface water were calculated. The study conclusion is that the ground-water pathways did not contribute significantly to dose. Compared with background radiation in the TriCities {300 mrem/yr), estimated doses are small: 0.02 mrem/yr effective dose equivalent from discharge of contaminated ground water to the Columbia River; 1 mrem/yr effective dose equivalent from Hanford Site wells; 11 mrem/yr effective dose equivalent from riparian wells; and 1 mrem/yr effective dose equivalent from the watershed. Because the estimated doses are so small, the recommendation is that further work on the ground-water pathway be limited to tracking ongoing ground-water studies at the Hanford Site.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1086699
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-7978 HEDR
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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