Hydrologic Investigations near the Remote Handled Low-Level Waste Facility
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
Measurement of unsaturated hydraulic properties and evaluation of property-transfer models for deep sedimentary interbeds, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Completion summary for boreholes USGS 140 and USGS 141 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Completion summary for borehole USGS 136 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Below are partners associated with this project.
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
Measurement of unsaturated hydraulic properties and evaluation of property-transfer models for deep sedimentary interbeds, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Completion summary for boreholes USGS 140 and USGS 141 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Completion summary for borehole USGS 136 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Below are partners associated with this project.