Influence of Hydrologic Factors on Leaching of Solidified Low-Level Waste Forms at an Arid Site Field-Scale Lysimeter Facility

摘要

Most of the precipitation at the Hanford Site arrives as winter snow; this contributes to a strong seasonal pattern in water storage and drainage observed in the lysimeters. This seasonal pattern in storage corresponds to an annual range in the volumetric soil water content of 11% in late winter to 7% in the late summer and early fall. Annual changes in drainage rates cause pore water velocities to vary annually by nearly two orders of magnitude. Rapid snowmelt and frozen soils in February 1985 caused runoff water from areas adjacent to the lysimeter facility to flood three of the lysimeters. This resulted in a temporary increase in soil water storage, and an additional 5 to 10 cm of drainage for these three lysimeters. Measurable quantities of tritium and cobalt-60 are being collected in lysimeter drainage water. Approximately 30% of the original tritium inventory has been leached from both lysimeters containing samples of this waste form. Cobalt-60 is consistently being leached from five lysimeters representing three of the five waste forms. Total cobalt-60 collected from each of the five lysimeters varies, but in each case is less than 0.1% of the original cobalt inventory of the waste sample. Comparisons of cobalt release among flooded and non-flooded lysimeters show no significant difference caused by the extra drainage. (ERA citation 12:043089)