Applying engineered modifications to present shallow land burial (SLB) practices is one method of ensuring safe operation and improving overall disposal-site performance. Two such engineered modifications, trench lining and grouting, are being demonstrated and evaluated at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Engineered Test Facility (ETF), using nine 28-m/sup 3/ experimental trenches containing compacted low-level waste (LLW). Concurrent to this field demonstration experiment, two finite-element hydrologic models have been developed to model water movement and solute transport at a waste disposal site. This paper covers progress made in these two areas during FY 1984. Though the economic analysis of the two trench treatments favored Hypalon lining (lining costs were 33% lower at this demonstration scale), results of field experiments examining waste hydrologic isolation favored the cement-bentonite grout treatment. Data from water pump-out and water pump-in tests, combined with observed intratrench water-level fluctuations, suggest that the original goal of constructing watertight liners in three experimental trenches was not achieved. In addition, trench-cover subsidence of approx. 2% of the total trench depth has been measured over two of the three lined trenches but has not occurred over any of the three grouted or three control (untreated) trenches. The evaluation of the two trench treatments is continuing. However, results indicate that the cement-bentonite treatment, implemented at a cost of $160/m/sup 3/ of grout, provides a degree of waste isolation not afforded by the lined and control trenches and should be considered for use at SLB sites with water-related problems. 11 references, 6 figures, 2 tables.
