ASCE will be sunsetting the Civil Engineering Database (CEDB) in the coming months. We encourage you to start using the ASCE Library to perform content searches. In the ASCE Library, you can save your search results as well as receive email content alerts when new content relevant to your area of interest is published. Try it out today at https://ascelibrary.org.

 

Three-Dimensional Plume Dynamics in the Vadose Zone: PORFLO-3 Modeling of a Defense Waste Leak at Hanford

by J. L. Smoot, Pacific Northwest Lab, United States,
B. Sagar, Pacific Northwest Lab, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: High Level Radioactive Waste Management 1990

Abstract:

In 1973, approximately 450 m³ of liquid containing radioactive and chemical wastes leaked from the 241-T-106 single-shell tank into the vadose zone at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in south-central Washington State. The extent of the ¹³⁷Cs, ¹⁴⁴Ce, and ¹⁰⁶Ru contaminant plumes in the vadose zone was estimated in 1973 and 1978 by gamma spectrometry in monitoring wells. Using site data and the PORFLO-3 computer model, a three-dimensional, transient plume migration model was developed for ¹⁰⁶Ru and ¹³⁷Cs. The model was calibrated to the 1973 measured plumes of ¹⁰⁶Ru and ¹³⁷Cs. The calibrated model was then used to study plume migration up to 1990. The simulated ¹⁰⁶Ru distribution for 1978 extended deeper than reported values. The simulated distribution of ¹³⁷Cs for 1978 approximated the measured distribution; the 1973 and 1978 ¹³⁷Cs distributions are similar because of the long half-life and high sorption coefficient of ¹³⁷Cs.

Subject Headings: Three-dimensional models | Plumes | Chemical wastes | Vadose zone | Radioactive wastes | Fuels | Computer models | Washington | United States

Services: Buy this book/Buy this article

 

Return to search