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Hydrologic Investigations near the Remote Handled Low-Level Waste Facility

Completed
By Idaho Water Science Center September 20, 2017

The U.S. Department of Energy has proposed a location for a new facility to store waste at the INL. In the unlikely event that waste leaks from the facility, it will be important to monitor whether the contamination reaches the aquifer and baseline information is need before the facility is built.

Because we need to know how water and contaminants may travel through the aquifer, we need to gather geophysical, hydraulic property, and water-quality information about the subsurface.

We drilled one new well upgradient and two new wells downgradient of the new facility. At this site, the water level is about 490 ft below land surface; we are monitoring the water quality of the upper 50 ft of the aquifer. We collected core and geophysical logs to about 550 ft below land surface. We measured hydraulic properties from the unsaturated zone and modeled preferential and diffuse flow and perching mechanisms in the unsaturated zone.

Below are publications associated with this project.

Preferential flow, diffuse flow, and perching in an interbedded fractured-rock unsaturated zone

Layers of strong geologic contrast within the unsaturated zone can control recharge and contaminant transport to underlying aquifers. Slow diffuse flow in certain geologic layers, and rapid preferential flow in others, complicates the prediction of vertical and lateral fluxes. A simple model is presented, designed to use limited geological site information to predict these critical subsurface proc
Authors
John R. Nimmo, Kaitlyn M Creasey, Kimberlie Perkins, Benjamin B. Mirus
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Measurement of unsaturated hydraulic properties and evaluation of property-transfer models for deep sedimentary interbeds, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

Operations at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have the potential to contaminate the underlying Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer. Methods to quantitatively characterize unsaturated flow and recharge to the ESRP aquifer are needed to inform water-resources management decisions at INL. In particular, hydraulic properties are needed to parameterize distributed hydrologic models of unsatura
Authors
Kimberlie Perkins, Brittany D. Johnson, Benjamin B. Mirus
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center

Completion summary for boreholes USGS 140 and USGS 141 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, drilled and constructed boreholes USGS 140 and USGS 141 for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho. Borehole USGS 140 initially was cored to collect continuous geologic data, and then re-d
Authors
Brian V. Twining, Roy C. Bartholomay, Mary K.V. Hodges
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center

Completion summary for borehole USGS 136 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

In 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, cored and completed borehole USGS 136 for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory. The borehole was initially cored to a depth of 1,048 feet (ft) below land surface (BLS) to collect core, open-borehole water
Authors
Brian V. Twining, Roy C. Bartholomay, Mary K.V. Hodges
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center

Below are partners associated with this project.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

The U.S. Department of Energy has proposed a location for a new facility to store waste at the INL. In the unlikely event that waste leaks from the facility, it will be important to monitor whether the contamination reaches the aquifer and baseline information is need before the facility is built.

Because we need to know how water and contaminants may travel through the aquifer, we need to gather geophysical, hydraulic property, and water-quality information about the subsurface.

We drilled one new well upgradient and two new wells downgradient of the new facility. At this site, the water level is about 490 ft below land surface; we are monitoring the water quality of the upper 50 ft of the aquifer. We collected core and geophysical logs to about 550 ft below land surface. We measured hydraulic properties from the unsaturated zone and modeled preferential and diffuse flow and perching mechanisms in the unsaturated zone.

Below are publications associated with this project.

Preferential flow, diffuse flow, and perching in an interbedded fractured-rock unsaturated zone

Layers of strong geologic contrast within the unsaturated zone can control recharge and contaminant transport to underlying aquifers. Slow diffuse flow in certain geologic layers, and rapid preferential flow in others, complicates the prediction of vertical and lateral fluxes. A simple model is presented, designed to use limited geological site information to predict these critical subsurface proc
Authors
John R. Nimmo, Kaitlyn M Creasey, Kimberlie Perkins, Benjamin B. Mirus
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Measurement of unsaturated hydraulic properties and evaluation of property-transfer models for deep sedimentary interbeds, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

Operations at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have the potential to contaminate the underlying Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer. Methods to quantitatively characterize unsaturated flow and recharge to the ESRP aquifer are needed to inform water-resources management decisions at INL. In particular, hydraulic properties are needed to parameterize distributed hydrologic models of unsatura
Authors
Kimberlie Perkins, Brittany D. Johnson, Benjamin B. Mirus
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center

Completion summary for boreholes USGS 140 and USGS 141 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, drilled and constructed boreholes USGS 140 and USGS 141 for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho. Borehole USGS 140 initially was cored to collect continuous geologic data, and then re-d
Authors
Brian V. Twining, Roy C. Bartholomay, Mary K.V. Hodges
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center

Completion summary for borehole USGS 136 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

In 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, cored and completed borehole USGS 136 for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory. The borehole was initially cored to a depth of 1,048 feet (ft) below land surface (BLS) to collect core, open-borehole water
Authors
Brian V. Twining, Roy C. Bartholomay, Mary K.V. Hodges
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center

Below are partners associated with this project.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)