Contaminant migration at two low-level radioactive waste sites in arid western United States – A review |
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Authors: | H G Wilshire Irving Friedman |
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Institution: | (1) 1348 Isabelle Ave., Mountain View, California 94040, USA, US;(2) 620 Vivian St., Lakewood, Colorado 80215, USA, US |
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Abstract: | Contamination of the unsaturated zone and ground water at the Beatty, Nevada and Richland, Washington low-level radioactive
waste sites shows that pathways exist for rapid lateral and vertical migration of contaminants through unconsolidated clastic
sediments that comprise the 100 m-thick unsaturated zones of those arid disposal sites. Disposal of liquid wastes at the Beatty
site until 1975 may have contributed to rapid migration of contaminants, but negligible amounts of liquid wastes reportedly
were disposed at the Richland LLRW site and similar problems of contaminant migration exist. Pathways for vertical migration
in the unsaturated zone include fractures and, at Richland, clastic dikes; lateral migration pathways likely are facies-controlled.
Disturbance of the disposal sites contributed to increased infiltration of the unlined waste trenches after closure; simulations
that used Beatty sample data show dramatic increases in recharge with disturbances necessary to develop the site. Because
neither an arid climate nor presence of a thick unsaturated zone offer effective barriers to ground-water contamination, reliance
on those factors at proposed sites such as Ward Valley, California and elsewhere is unwarranted.
Received: 4 February 1998 · Accepted: 4 May 1998 |
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Keywords: | Contamination Radioactive wastes Unsaturated zone Ground water |
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