Tritium migration studies at the Nevada Test Site
Description
Emanation of tritium from waste containers is a commonly known phenomenon. Release of tritium from buried waste packages was anticipated, therefore a research program was developed to study both the rate of tritium release from buried containers and subsequent migration of tritium through soil. Migration of tritium away from low level radioactive wastes buried in Area 5 of the Nevada Test Site was studied. Four distinct disposal events were investigated. The oldest burial event studied was a 1976 emplacement of 3.5 million curies of tritium in a shallow land burial trench. Tritium transport to the atmosphere by plant transpiration was … continued below
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17 pages
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Authors
- Schulz, R. K.
- Romney, E. M.
- Fujii, L. M.
- Greger, P. D. California Univ., Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Kendall, E. W.
- Hunter, R.B. (Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Co., Inc., Las Vegas, NV (United States))
Sponsor
- United States. Department of Energy. DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
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University of California, Berkeley
Publisher Info: California Univ., Berkeley, CA (United States)Place of Publication: Berkeley, California
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Description
Emanation of tritium from waste containers is a commonly known phenomenon. Release of tritium from buried waste packages was anticipated, therefore a research program was developed to study both the rate of tritium release from buried containers and subsequent migration of tritium through soil. Migration of tritium away from low level radioactive wastes buried in Area 5 of the Nevada Test Site was studied. Four distinct disposal events were investigated. The oldest burial event studied was a 1976 emplacement of 3.5 million curies of tritium in a shallow land burial trench. Tritium transport to the atmosphere by plant transpiration was determined to have risen sharply with the passage of time, and is now occurring at the rate of about 6 curies per year. The tritium being released from this waste has not resulted in elevated tritium levels in the urine of people working directly on the trench cap. Air samplers placed around the perimeter of the Area 5 site show no higher tritium levels than the Nevada Test Site in general. In another event, 248 thousand curies of tritium was disposed of in an overpack emplaced 6 meters below the floor of a low-level waste disposal pit. Measurement of the emanation rate of tritium out of 55 gallon drums to the overpack was studied, and an annual doubling of the emanation rate over a seven year period was found. No evidence of significant migration of tritium away from the overpack was found. In a third study, upward tritium migration in the soil was observed in a greater confinement disposal test. The movement was suspected largely to be the result of experimental anomalies and heat generated by other radionuclides present in the waste. Releases of tritium to the atmosphere were found to be insignificant. The fourth event consisted of burial of 2.2 million curies of tritium in a greater confinement disposal operation. No significant migration was found. 4 refs., 4 figs., 6 tabs.
Physical Description
17 pages
Notes
OSTI; NTIS; INIS; GPO Dep.
Subjects
Keywords
- Beta Decay Radioisotopes
- Beta-Minus Decay Radioisotopes
- Boreholes
- Cavities
- Chalcogenides
- Compiled Data
- Containers
- Data
- Data Analysis
- Distribution
- Emplacement
- Environmental Transport
- Hydrogen Compounds
- Hydrogen Isotopes
- Information
- Isotopes
- Light Nuclei
- Low-Level Radioactive Wastes
- Management
- Mass Transfer
- Materials
- National Organizations
- Nevada Test Site
- Nuclei
- Numerical Data
- Odd-Even Nuclei
- Oxides
- Oxygen Compounds
- Plants
- Radioactive Materials
- Radioactive Waste Disposal
- Radioactive Waste Management
- Radioactive Wastes
- Radioisotopes
- Radionuclide Migration
- Soils
- Spatial Distribution
- Transpiration
- Tritium
- Tritium Compounds
- Tritium Oxides
- Us Doe
- Us Organizations
- Variations
- Waste Disposal
- Waste Management
- Wastes
- Years Living Radioisotopes 052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
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Identifier
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- Other: DE92000278
- Report No.: DOE/NV-345
- Grant Number: AC08-89NV10755
- Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.2172/5302465
- Office of Scientific & Technical Information Report Number: 5302465
- Archival Resource Key: ark:/67531/metadc1074739
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Creation Date
- August 1, 1991
Added to The UNT Digital Library
- Feb. 4, 2018, 10:51 a.m.
Description Last Updated
- March 25, 2020, 6:21 p.m.
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Schulz, R. K.; Romney, E. M.; Fujii, L. M.; Greger, P. D.; Kendall, E. W. & Hunter, R.B. (Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Co., Inc., Las Vegas, NV (United States)). Tritium migration studies at the Nevada Test Site, report, August 1, 1991; Berkeley, California. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1074739/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.