Sorption--desorption studies of Nevada Test Site alluvium and leaching studies of nuclear test debris

Abstract

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored bv the Umtrd States Government. Neiner Ihf United Sutes nor the United Sutrs Deputmrnt of Encriv. nor tnv of iheir lh"ir employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any le^Kl liability or responsibility i*or the accuracy, completenesi. or usefulness of any tn:irm»tion. apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that iU use would not infringe privately owned rights. SORPTION-DESORPTIOr STUDIES OF NEVADA TEST SITE ALLUVIUM AND LEACHING STUDIES OF NUCLEAR

Geochemical factors affecting radionuclide transport through near and far fields at a Low-Level Waste Disposal Site

“…The average moisture content of Hanford vadose zone sediments ranges from 4 to 7% (v/v), which is equivalent to 10% to 20% saturation Heller 1985, Schalla et al 1988). Although considerable effort has been expended over the past few years to quantify the mobility of nuclear wastes and determine factors that influence radionuclide mobility ( h e s et al 1976, Seme et al 1977, Wolfsberg 1978, Relyea and Seme 1979, and Seme et al 1993. little work has been done to investigate the transport of radionuclides under conditions of partial saturation, which is most commonly found at arid region burial sites.…”

Fate and transport processes controlling the migration of hazardous and radioactive materials from the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS)

“…Several studies have been conducted around the Frenchman Hat area investigating the mineralogy, and the physical and chemical properties of the alluvial material (Wolfsberg, 1979;Romney et al, 1973;Kautsky, 1984;Jones, 1982;Daniels and Thompson, 1983;Case et al, 1984;Case et al, 1992;Steinberg and Kreamer, 1993;REECo, 1993a;REECo, 1993b). Some of the alluvial soil properties related to sorption are summarized in Table 1 by study.…”

“…Quantitative determinations for lead and radioactive tracers have been made with soil samples from the Area 5 RWMS and vicinity (Case et al, 1992;Kautsky, 1984;Case et al, 1984;Daniels and Thompson, 1983;Wolfsberg, 1979). S teinberg and Kreamer ( 1993) have conducted experiments addressing the attenuation of organics with these soils.…”

“…Thus, it is not surprising to find differences between & estimates (Table 3). Wolfsberg (1979) and Daniels and Thompson (1983) conducted batch sorption studies for radioactive tracers using soil samples from the same borehole at the Cambric site. Their & estimates were different.…”

“…Daniels and Thompson (1983) reported a loss of some of the nuclide to the polyethylene containers in which the experiments were performed. Wolfsberg et al (1979) also used polyethylene containers but different shaking times and solution compositions, allowing for the different sorption ratios between the soil and the container. Furthermore, the Kd values in Table 3 were all obtained using the "batch" method, that is, they were all slurry studies performed under saturated conditions.…”