Water Movement in the Unsaturated Zone at a Low-Level Radioactive-Waste Burial Site Near Barnwell, South Carolina

摘要

Four unsaturated-zone monitoring sites and a meteorologic station were installed at the low-level radioactive-waste burial site near Barnwell, South Carolina, to investigate the geohydrologic and climatologic factors affecting water movement in the unsaturated zone. The study site is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. A meteorologic station was used to measure precipitation and to calculate actual evapotranspiration using the Bowen ratio method. Tracer tests using sodium chloride were conducted at each monitoring site. Hydrologic properties of unsaturated-zone materials were also determined. Monitoring and model results show that precipitation on trenches infiltrated the trench cap and moved vertically into the trench backfill material.