Waste isolation and contaminant migration - Tools and techniques for monitoring the saturated zone-unsaturated zone-plant-atmosphere continuum

By:  and 
Edited by: T.J. Nicholson and H.D. Arlt

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Abstract

In 1976 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began studies of unsaturated zone hydrology next to the Nation’s first commercial disposal facility for low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) near Beatty, NV. Recognizing the need for long-term data collection, the USGS in 1983 established research management areas in the vicinity of the waste-burial facility through agreements with the Bureau of Land Management and the State of Nevada. Within this framework, the Amargosa Desert Research Site (ADRS; http://nevada.usgs.gov/adrs/) is serving as a field laboratory for the sustained study of water-, gas-, and contaminant-transport processes, and the development of models and methods to characterize flow and transport. The research is built on multiple lines of data that include: micrometeorology; evapotranspiration; plant metrics; soil and sediment properties; unsaturated-zone moisture, temperature, and gas composition; geology and geophysics; and groundwater. Contaminant data include tritium, radiocarbon, volatile-organic compounds (VOCs), and elemental mercury. Presented here is a summary of monitoring tools and techniques that are being applied in studies of waste isolation and contaminant migration.
Publication type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Conference Paper
Title Waste isolation and contaminant migration - Tools and techniques for monitoring the saturated zone-unsaturated zone-plant-atmosphere continuum
Series number NUREG/CP-0195
Chapter 3.5.1
Year Published 2011
Language English
Publisher U.S. Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
Contributing office(s) Nevada Water Science Center
Description 4 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Conference publication
Larger Work Title Proceedings of the workshop on engineered barrier performance related to low-level radioactive waste, decommissioning, and uranium mill tailings facilities (NUREG/CP-0195)
First page 3-5
Last page 3-8
Conference Title Workshop on engineered barrier performance related to low-level radioactive waste, decommissioning, and uranium mill tailings facilities
Conference Location Rockville, MD
Conference Date August 3-5, 2010
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