ML19339A366

a General Investigation of Radionuclide Retention in Migration Pathways at West Valley,New York LOW Level Burial Site.Final Report.October 1978-February 1980

ML19339A366
Person / Time
Site:	West Valley Demonstration Project
Issue date:	10/31/1980
From:	Dana R, Molello S, Ragan V NEW YORK, STATE OF
To:	NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH (RES)
References
CON-FIN-B-6008 NUREG-CR-1565, NYSGS-24.01.029, NUDOCS 8011030672
Download: ML19339A366 (157)

Text

NUREG/CR-1565 NYSGS/24.01.029 RE, RW General Investigation of Radionuclide Retention in Migration Pathways at the West Valley, New York Low-Level Burial Site Final Report October 1978 - February 1980 Manuscript Completed: August 1980 Date Published: October 1980 Prepared by R. H. Dana, Jr., V. S. Ragan, S. A. Molello, H. H. Bailey, R. H. Fickies, C.G., R. H. Fakundiriy, V. C. Hoffman*

' Consulting Engineer New York State Geological Survey / State Museum New York State Education Department Albany, NY 1^J 30 Prepared for 1 Division of Safeguards, Fuel Cycle and Environmental Research i Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research i U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 NRC FIN No. B6008 i

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ABSTRACT This report is the final one in a series of reports presenting the results of a study to evaluate the containment capability of a low-level, solid radioactive waste burial ground at West Valley, New York. The present investigation includes several

, basic parts: a surface water study, a trench water study, geotechnical and radiochemical studies of soils, a geotech-nical study of a research trench and an analysis of sub-trench core data.

< Tritium, as tritiated water, is the most abundant radio-nuclide dete';ted in both surface water and trench water sam-ples. Strontium-90 is the predominant beta emitter detected in surface water samples. It is estimated that strontium-90 contributes approximately one-half of the total beta activity in whole water samples. Strontium-90 ranks as the second most abundant trench water radionuclide in six of the eleven trenches 1

studied.

In general, the results of standard engineering tests on soils from the West Valley site confirm the results predicted by testing performed in 1977. The strength of the walls of Research Trench III was estimated The In minimum developed co-shallow, softened soils hesion was estimated as 18.9 kN/m).

of the trench walls the developed cohesion at failgre under submerged conditions was estimated to be 2.54 kN/m ,and-fail-ure under 2sudden drawdown conditions was estimated to be 4.79 kN/m . Analyses of soil samples from the north burial area trench caps for tritium showed approximate background levels at the surface and above-background levels at depths of 20 to 50 centimeters.

The maximum observed vertical migration of tritium was beneath trench 8. Detection limits were reached at a depth slightly greater than 3.2 m below the estimated trench flcor with a poss-

' ible trench floor location error of 0.3 meters. Carbon-14 was found to migrate at a much slower rate than tritium. There may be evidence for the migration of strontium-90 beneath the

.I trenches, but it is inconclusive. Plutonium-238 was detected j beneath all three trenches studied and in four of the five sub-trench cores; whether or not in all cases these values reflect l

actual migration in the soil is difficult to ar ertain. All other radionuclides studied showed either essentially no de-l I tectable activity or activity attributable to the element as it

, occurs naturally.

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SUMMARY

The New York State Geological Survey is the lead agency in an interdisciplinary research program to investigate the poten-tial pathways of migration of low-level radioactive waste from j a commercial shallow land-burial ground at West Valley, New i York. This final report covers all work undertaken to date with the exception of an in-progress geomorphic study that will be corupleted the summer of 1981. This report is divided into sev-eral parts: a study of potential migration pathways, including sub-trench soils, the trench cap soil and the surface water pathways; a study of the radiochemical characteristics of water in the trenches, to be used in conjunction with migration studies; and a study of engineering properties of the trenches, trench caps and burial medium.

The surface water program is an interagency study that includes monitoring of precipitation and streamflow at the site, and the systematic collection of stream water and sediment samples for radiochemical analysis. The trench cap and sub-trench studies include endeavors to detail radionuclide migration in the dis-turbed and undisturbed tills that encapsulate the-radioactive wastes. The trench water study involves periodic collection and detailed radiochemical analyses of trench water samples to define spatial and temporal variations in radionuclide concen-trations, and to identify the radionuclides available for migra-tion. Geotechnical analysis of samples of the trench cap and burial till soils is directed toward evaluating the physical properties that could influence overall trench stability and, consequently, radioisotope migration.

Tritium, as tritiated water, is the most abundant radionuclide detected in surface water samples. The highest tritium con-centrations occurred in samples collected,during periods of low precipitation, probably the result of the lack of diluting pre-cipitation that contains ambient- levels of tritium. Higher than expected tritium concentrations were found in all surface water samples collected during May, 1979. This may reflect, in part, the normal increase in tritium concentrations in pre-cipitation accompanying vernal tropospheric inversions that occur at these latitudes.

Surface water samples collected at Stations No. 3 and 4 during late July and August of 1978 exhibited increased alpha and beta i activity that may be associated with well excavation and trench recapping operations that were carried out at that time. Eleven

pre-existing wells were excavated by backhoe and capped below grade, prior to trench recapping, near the north burial trenches on July 24-26. The excavations, up to 1 m deep, remained open until July 27, exposing trench cap sediments for transport to nearby streams. During trench recapping operations, August 7-30, i total alpha activity at one station increased from <4pci/l to 1900 v

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pCi/l in response to added sediment load. Radioactivity sub-sequently decreased to 20 pCi/1 during the week in which re-capping operations were completed.

Strontium-90 is the predominant beta emitter detected in sur-face water samples for which analyses for specific radio-nuclides were performed. It is estimated that strontium-90 contributes approximately'one-half of the total beta activity in whole water samples.

Tritium as 3 HHO is by far the most abundant trench water radionuclide in all the trenches studied, without exception.

Strontium-90 ranks as the second most abundant trench water radionuclide in six of the eleven trenches studied. Cesium-134 values observed in trench water samples from 9 of the 10 trenches studied, when plotted against the time interval be-tween burial of waste and trench water analysis, fall on a line of steadily decreasing activity as the time for decay i

increases. Carbon-14 (total) in trench water ranks second or third among radionuclides in all the south trenches studied.

In the north trenches in general, carbon-14 values are much smaller than in the south trenches, though isolated higher values have been found. This relationship is in good agree-ment with the quantities of carbon-14 known to be buried in the trenches, though burial records are somewhat ambiguous.

Iodine-129 in trench water is observed in very low concen-trations in the trenches studied to date.

In general, the results of standard engineering tests in soils from the West Valley site confirm the results predicted by testing performed in 1977. Samples from the walls of Research Trench III showed some increase in moisture content after sub-mersion for almost two years, accompanied by a decrease in strength and-unit weight. This indicates a slight swelling of the soil, as would be expected. We do not know what the maximum strength is for the slope as a whole. But a minimum strength for the Research Trench III wall slope can be estimated, since the slope The remained minimum stable developed under sudden cohesion drawdown18.9kN/m is approximately conditiogs.

4 Portions of the lowermost trench that were greater than approximately 1.2 m above the floor failed. It is believed that failures occurred both before and after drawdown. In these shallow, softened soils a value was estimated for the developed 2cohesion at failure under submerged conditions (2.54 kN/m ), and a slightly higher value was estimated for failure under sudden drawdown conditions (4.79 kN/m2 ),

Analyses of samples of soil from the north burial area tiench caps for total alpha and total beta showed no values above the estimated natural background activity of the burial till.

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Analyses of samples of soil from the north burial area trench caps for tritium showed approximate background levels at the surface and above-background levels at danths of 20 to 50 cm.

Samples from the south burial area were 4 11yzed at depth only; these values were also above background levels for tritium.

The maximum observed vertical migration of tritium in sub-trench core holes was beneath trench 8. Detection limits (3x10-6 pCi/ml) were reached at a depth slightly greater than 3.2 m below the estimated trench floor with a possible trench floor location error of 0.3 m. The minimum observed vertical migration of tritium was beneath trench 4. Activity dropped below detectable limits at a maximum depth of 2.25 m below the trench floor. Migration beneath trench 8 represents just under seven years of migration; the shorter distance beneath trench 4 represents ten years of migration.

Because of different trench water concentrations and different limits of detection it is not possible to compare directly the migration distances of tritium and carbon-14 However, in com-paring measurements of the two radionuclides beneath trench 5 to a depth of approximately 9 m below land surface a clear gen-eral relationship does emerge. Over this range the carbon-14 concentration dropped by a factor of approximately 20, whereas tritium decreased by a factor of 2 to 3 over the same depth interval. This indicates that the carbon-14 migrates at a much slower rate than the tritium.

Detectable concentrations of strontium-90 below the trenches were found beneath trenches 4 and 5. Beneath trench 4 values above detection limits were found and may have been up to 70 cm below the trench floor; the uncertain location of the trench floor precludes a more accurate estimate. Beneath trench 5 values above detection limits were found 5 cm below the esti-mated trench floor with a possible trench floor location error of 15 cm. In short, evidence for the migration of strontium-90 be-neath the trenches is inconclusive, at best.

Plutonium-238 was detected beneath all three trenches studied and in four of the five sub-trench cores. Most of the data show values above computed background levels for West Vally soil. Whether in all cases these values reflect actual migra-tion in the soil is difficult to ascertain. The large potential laboratory counting errors for most of these analyses make any interpretation somewhat speculative.

Radionuclides showing essentially no detectable activity be-neath the trench floor include iron-55, nickel-63, iodine-129, i americium-241, cobalt-60, and ruthenium-106. Radionuclides showing activity attributable to the naturally occurring element vii

include plutonium-239, potassium-40, thorium-232, uranium-234,

-235, and -238.

In the course of this investigation a number of possible future paths of investigation were identified. These recommendations are presented in brief below.

Because trench recapping activities conducted in 1978 signifi-cantly altered the drainage pattern at the burial site, any continued surface water study must include remapping of the drainage basins.

Any further studies must address the problem of identifying on-site sources of radionuclides other than the low-level radioactive waste burial site. For example, a new surface water monitoring station that would monitor all runoff from the NRC-licensed burial area would be essential for addressing the problem of radionuclide source, a persistent problem throughx2t these investigations.

Another problem encountered in these investigations is in the analysis of americium-241 in trench water. High concentrations of plutonium-238 appear to constructively interfere with the analysis of americium-241. This problem has been encountered in trench 10 and may be affecting values of americium-241 in other trenches as well. The effects of plutonium-238 on americium-241 analyses should be investigated.

Because it has been surmised that the trench caps may serve as a medium for migration of tritiated gases and for exchange with stable fluids, continued analysis of trench cap samples should be undertaken to further define the magnitude, mechanism and extent of migration of tritium at shallow depths within the trench cap. In conjunction with this, parallel studies of soil and trench gases would identify some of the nuclides available for diffusion through, or getention in, the trench caps.

lier studies suggest that Ear-HH may exchange with water contained in the trench caps, and that 3 HCH3, 14CH4, and 4 CO2 undergo

" substantial aerobic decomposition in the trench caps". Con-tinued studies of the efficiency of the trench caps in retain-ing radionuclides should include an evaluation of these equi-libration processes and rates. In addition, quantitiative effects of trench cap fractures upon gas flux remain to be de-fined.

Future studies of sub-trench migration of radionuclides should include additionc? analyses of cores using longer core sections to obtain higher censitivity in the regions showing values near detection limits, This would provide greater accuracy in de-fining the migration rate of tritium, as well as help clear up problems associated with the interpretation of data on carbon-14, strontium-90 and plutonium-238 migration rates.

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1 Now that a substantial body of information has been obtained from field experiments on migration rates and from computer modeling of this migration, laboratory experiments should be done to study the adsorption and desorption properties of the West Valley soil. Adsorption and desorption should be revers-ible procedures; if not, this is evidence for the creation of neutral substances or the formation of radiocolloids. In order to test the-various components of the West Valley soil for its adsorption properties, a sample of uncontaminated soil from the West Valley site could be broken down into its various components for testing with a sample of water from the burial trenches.

Desorption could then be carried out on these same samples.to test the reversibility of adsorption experiments.

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CONTENTS iii I Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Summary . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii List of Figures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xiv List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii List of Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.0 PURPOSE OF STUDY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 3.0 SCOPE OF STUDY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4.0 CONCLUSION

S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 6.0 SURFACE WATER STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

32 6.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 6.2 Method of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 6.3 Results and Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 6.3.1 Tritium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6.3.2 Total Alpha and Total Beta Activities in 23 Water Samples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6.3.3 Detailed Radiochemical Analyses of Surface 25 Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

28 6.3.4 Analysis of Sediment Samples. . . . . . . . .

29 6.3.5 Sorption Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . .

29 6.4 Further Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

30 7.0 TRENCH WATER STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 7.1 Introduction. 30 7.2 Water Sample Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 7.3 Water Wells . . . . . . . . . . . .

Radiochemical Analyses of Trench Water. . . . . 33 7.4 34 7.5 Discussion of Trench Water Data . . . . . . . . 46 7.6 Future Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

l 8.0 GEOTECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH . . 47 TRENCH AND TRENCH CAP SOILS. . . . . . . 47 S.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 8.2 Purpose of Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 8.3 Method of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 8.4 Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

, 8.4.1 Soil. Description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 8.4.2 Research Trench Results . . . . . . . . . . . 54 8.4.3 Trench Cap Soil Test Results. . . . . . . . . 55 8.4.4 Soil Strengths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

56 8.4.5 Stability of Waste-filled Trench. . . . . . .

. 58 9.0 RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSES OF TRENCH CAP SOILS.

58 9.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

58 l 9.2 Purpose of Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

9. 3- Method of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 9.4 Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 9.5 Recornmendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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i COMTENTS (CONT'D.)

a 10.0 l 10.1 ANALYSIS OF SUB-TRENCH CORE DATA.

Radiochemical Analysis of Cores . . . . . . . 63 10.2 . . . . . . . 64 10.3 Evaluation of Coring Technique. . . . . . . . 64 Locating Trench Floor .

10.4 Radionuclide Migration. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . 65 10.5 . . . . . . . 66 Future Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

11.0 REFERENCES

.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8; r

! APPENDIXES.

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 A.

B.

Precipitation and Streamflow Data. . . . . . . . 93

Radiochemical Analyses of Surface Water and i

. Sediment Samples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C. 99 l

Radiochemical Analyses for Water and Soil Samples . . . .'. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 D. 109

} E. Research Trench and Trench Cap Sampling Data 119 F.

Soil Classification Terminology. . . . . . . . .

123 j G.

Radiochemical Analyses of Sub-Trench Cores 127 Geologic Description of Sub-Trench Cores . . ... .. 131-j i

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i LIST OF FIGURES Page #

Figure #

1 Site Plan, Western N.Y. Nuclear Service Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Surface Water Drainage Basins . . . . . . . . . . 13 2

Surface Water Monitoring Equipment Layout . . . . 14 3

4 Flow Diagram of Weekly Composite Sample Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 5 Flow Diagram of Weekly Low-Flow Grab Sample

' Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 a 6 Flow Diagram of Monthly Background Grab Sample Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Flow Diagram of Storm Grab Sample Processing . . 20 7

8 Flow Diagram of Monthly Streanbed Sediment Grab Sample Processing . . . . . . . . . . . 21 9 Graph of Surface Water Tritium Activity 24 i

Verse' Precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . .

10 Graph of 'lotal Alpha, Total Beta, Tritium Actitity at Station No. 4, May - Sept. 1978 . 26 11 Schematic Diagram of Trench Water Collection Apparatus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 12 Concentration of Cesium-134 in West Valley 41 q

Trenches . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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13 Plan and Cross Section of Research Trench III . .

50 14 Map of Trench Cap Soil Collection Locations . . .

61 15 Tritium Concentrations in Trench Cap Samples . .

16 Graph of Tritiated Water vs. Depth, hole 4-4A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

17 Graph of. Tritiated Water vs. Depth, 71 holes 5-2D & 5-2E . . . . . . . . . . . . .

18 Graph of Tritiated Water vs. Depth, hole 8-lC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 19 Graph of Tritiated Water vs. Depth, hole 8-2A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Graph of Carbon-14 vs. Depth, hole 4-4A . . . . . 77 20 21 Graph of Carbon-14 vs. Depth, 78 holes 5-2D & 5-2E . . . . . . . . . . . .

22 Graph of Strontium-90 vs. Depth, 81 holes 4-4A, 5-2D, & 5-2E . . . . . . . . . .

23 Graph of Cesium-134 & -137 vs. Depth, holes 5-2E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 24 Graph of Plutonium-238 vs. Depth, holts 8-lc & 8-2A . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 xiii l

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f-j LIST OF TABLES

. Table # Description Page #

1 I

1 Stream Monitoring and Sampling Equipment 2

. 15 Surface Water Sample Types . . . . . . . . 16 3 Winter Surface Water Sampling Program . . 22 4 Strontium-90 Activity in Surface Water Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 5 Analyses of Water Samples, Trenches 10 & 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 6

Order of Abundance of Radionuclides in Trench Water . . .. . . . . . . . . . 37 7 Test Results of Soil Samples . . . . . . .

i 8 52 Comparison of Test Results . . . . . . . . 53 9

Radiochemical Analyses of Trench Cap Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

10 Depths Below Land Surface vs. Depth Below i

Trench Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 11 Precipitation at Nuclear Fuel Services, j Inc.

12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 13 Streamflow at Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.. 96 i

Radiochemical Analyses of Surface Water

' and Sediment Samples . . . . . . . . . 100 14

' Radionuclide Concentrations in Surface Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 15 Radiochemical Analyses of Ion Exchange Column Resins . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 16 Radiochemical Analyses of Sub-Trench Cores, H-3, C-14, and Sr-90 17 . . . . . . . . . 128 Radiochemical Analyses of sub-Trench Cores, I-129, Pu-238, Pu-239, -240, and

' Am-241. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 18 Radiochemical Analyses of Sub-Trench Cores, U-234, -235, and -238 . . . . . . . . . 130 19 Geologic Log, Core Hole 4-4A . . . . . . .

.l 20 132 Geologic Log, Core Hole 5-2D . . . . . . . 134 21 Geologic Log, Core Hole 5-2E t

2Z . . . . . . . 137 Geologic Log, Core Hole 8-lC . . . . . . . 139 i 23 Geologic Log, Core Hole 8-2A . . . . . . . 140 4

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to thank the following people for their advice and assistance in compiling this report:

John Matuszek, Kotra V. Krishnamurty, Charles Kunz, Joseph Hutchinson and Mark Virgil of the Radiological Sciences Laboratory of the New York State Department of Health for interpretation of radiological data, and for careful review of early drafts of portions of this report; William Harding, Richard Mulks, and Philip Zarriello of the U.S. Geological Survey - Water Resources Division for pro-viding and interpreting hydrologic records; Steven Potter of the New York State Geological Survey for surface water, sediment, and trench cap sample collection, and assisting in well installation; David Prudic and Allan Randall (U.S. Geological Survey-Water Resources Division) for their contribution to the sub-trench coring project, especially in the design stages and the development of the technique for sub-trench coring. It was through Allan Randall's conversations and correspondence with several persons, chiefly Will Acker (Acker Drill Co.),

W.D. Anderson (Anderson Drill Co.), Jeffrey Thew (Empire Soils Investigations), Scott Keys (U.S. Geological Survey) and James Davis and Jeffrey Pferd, that the technique was developed; David Prudic also provided us with careful u riew of early drafts of portions of this report.

We also wish to thank Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., for pro-viding site access and health physics protection during this investigation.

Laboratory analyses of soil samples were performed by Soils and Material Testing, Inc., of Castleton, New York.

All radiochemical analyses were performed by the Radiological Sciences Laboratory of the New York State Department of Health.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS General Items cm/s centimeters per second I total ft feet g/l grams oer liter ISCO trade name for Instrumentation Specialties Company kg kilogram kN/m 2 Kilonewtons per square meter LLRWB Low-Level Radioactive Waste Burial m meters meq milligram-equivalents MeV milli-electron volts NFS Nuclear Fuel Services, Incorporated nm nanometers NYSGS New York State Geological Survey pcf pounds per cubic foot pCi/l picocuries (10-12 curies) per liter RSL Radiological Sciences Laboratory of the New York State Department of Health t.u. tritium unit = Total No. 3H Atoms 1010 x Total No. Hydrogen Atons USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency USGS United States Geological Survey USNRC United StatesNuclear Regulatory Commission pCi/l microcuries (10-6 curies) per liter p microns o Standard deviation Radionuclides

• Alpha Emitters Th-232 Thorium-232 Pu-238 Plutonium-238 Pu-239, 240 Plutonium-239, 240 U-234 Uranium-234 U-235 Uranium-235 U-238 Uranium-238 Am-241 Americium-241 Cm-244 Curium-244

• Radionuclides discussed in this report are listed according {

to their characteristic emission.

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Beta Emitters

• H-3 Tritium C-14 Carbon-14 Na-22 Sodium-22 K-40 Potassium-40 Co-60 Cobalt-60 Ni-63 Nickel-63 Sr-90 Strontium-90 Zr-95 Zirconium-35 I-129 Iodine-129 Cs-134 Cesium-134 Cs-137 Cesium-137 Gamma Emitters Mn-54 Manganese-54 Ru-106 Ruthenium-106 Ba-133 Barium-133 Electron Capture Fe-55 Iron-55

• Radionuclides discussed in this report are listed according to their characteristic emission.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Western New York Nuclear Sarvice Center is located in West Valley, Cattaraugus County, 48 km southeast of Buffalo, N.Y. The major installation on the site is a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant which is not currently in operation. North ar.d south of the plamu respectively are the high-level waste tanks and the NRC-l censed burial area. The present study con-cerno a commercial low-level radioactive waste burial (LLRWB) area located southeast of the reprocessing facility (Figure 1).

The LLRWB area consists of 12 trerm. ,, each approximately 180 m long, 11 m wide, and 6 m deep. The trenches were exca-vated in a thick clay-silt till of low permeability (45x10-8 cm/s) and relatively high ion-exchange capacity (10.3 42%meq/

100g). A variety of solid large-volume, low specific-activity wastes were emplaced in the trenches, which were then each covered with a 1- to 5-m thick cap of weathered and unweathered till. Burial operations were voluntarily suspended by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS), the site operator, in 1975 after leachate seepage was observed at three north trenches.

The New York State Geological Survey (NYSGS) is the lead agency in an interdisciplinary research program to investigate path-ways of potential radionuclide migration from the LLRWB site.

The project involves several elements of investigation, includ-ing trench water, surface water, and sub-trench soil core studies, geotechnical analyses of the burial till and trench caps, and radiochemical analyses of trench cap samples. This final report covers all work undertaken under Contract No.

NRC-04-77-169 with the exception of an in-progress geomorphic study that will be completed the summer of 1981. A topical report will be completed at that time.

Studies of the West Valley LLRWB site were first sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA),

then jointly by the USEPA and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), and now fully by the USNRC. They involve cooperative programs with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and a number of New York State agencies, includ-ing the Radiological Sciences Laboratory of the New York State Department of Health (RSL), the Department of Envircrmental Conservation, and the Energy Office.

Previous reports published by the USNRC under Contract No.

NRC-04-77-169 include: "Geotechnical Analysis of Soil Samples" (NUREG/CR-064 4) ; " Annual Report, Oct. 1, 1977 - Oct. 31, 1978" (NUREG/CR-0794); "Geomorphic and Erosion Studies" (NUREG/CR-0795. "Geotechnical Analysis of Soil Samples and Study of a Research Trench" (NUREG/CR-1566) is completed and soon to be published.

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Surface water sampling stations G Erdman's Brook Figure 1. Map of a portion of the Q Lagoon Road Western tc' a York Nuclear Service Center showing low-level radioactive waste Q Bucket burial trenches and research trenches. @ Swamp Soecial burial area 7 is the unshaded O Rain gauges rectangle.

2

2.0 PURPOSE OF STUDY I - Short- and long-lived radionuclideo, varying from trace to If con-significant amounts, are buried at the LLRWB site.

tainment of these wastes is to be insured, perhaps for ar, long as several thousand years, then the geologic environment and engineering properties of the burial site must be carefully i assessed.

j This study originally was undertaken in 1975 in order to identify and assess both potential subsurface pathways by

' -which radionuclides could migrate from the trench to the sur-face environment and also to assess the surface pathways (surface water, atmospheric, biologic) by which radionuclides could be transported off site. Because degradation of the site

~

itself was considered to be a potential problem in the long-l term integrity of tis. burial site, a study of the engineering properties of the trenches, trench caps, and burial medium was undertaken as well.

The specific elements of the present phase of the investiga-tion are described below in section 3.

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3.0 SCOPE OF STUDY This final phase of the investigation inwalsms several general elements: a study of several migration pathways, including the sub-trench soils, the trench cap soil, and the surface water pathways; a study of the radiochemical characteristics of water in the trenches to be used in conjunction with migra-tion studies; and a study of the engineering properties of the trenches, trench caps and burial medium.

The surface water program is an interagency study that in-cludes monitoring of precipitation and streamflow at the site, and the systematic collection of stream water and sediment samples for analyses for tritium, total alpha, and total beta activities. The total tritium transported annually in one ephemeral, on-site stream has been estimated.

The trench cap and sub-trench studies include endeavors to detail radionuclide migration in the disturbed and undisturbed tills that encapsulate the radioactive wastes. Trench cap samples are analyzed for tritium, total alpha, and total beta; sub-trench soils are analyzed for several radionuclides, including tritium, strontium-90, carbon-14, and others. The study of sub-trench soils required the design and implemen-tation of a technique for satisfactory extraction of uncontam-inated cores from directly beneath the waste burial trenches.

Appropriate drilling techniques were devised and undertaken by the USGS in 1977. The project was initiated in order to assess directions, extent, and relative rates of specific nuclide migration, and the radiochemical and geologic para-ineters that affect radionuclide distribution in the soil.

The trenchwater study involves periodic collection and detail-ed radiochemical analyses of trenchwater samples to define spatial and temporal variations in source term radionuclide concentrations, and to identify radionuclides available for migration. The radionuclides under investigation include dis-solved and suspended tritium, strontium-90, cesium, plutonium, carbon-14, uranium, and several others.

Geotechnical analysis of samples of the trench cap and burial till soils is directed toward evaluating the physical proper-ties that could influence overall trench stability and, con-sequently, radioisotope migration. The present iraestigation is a continuation of studies begun in 1976 when the first of three research tronches was excavated near the LLRWB trenches.

Recently-collected soil samples were subjected to various geo-technical tests, and the results of those tests were compared to results obtained in previous investigations.

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4.0 CONCLUSION

S The mota significant conclusions reached.during the course of these investigations are listed below. These conclusions are discussed in more detail in sections 6.0 through 10.0 of this report.

4.1 Tritium, as tritiated water, is the most abundant radio-nuclide detected in surface water samples. The highest tri-tium concentrations occurred in samples collected during peri-ods of low precipitation, probably the result of the lack of diluting precipitation that contains ambient levels of tritium.

4.2 Higher than normal tritium concentrations were found in all on-site surface water samples collected during May, 1979.

This may reflect, in part, the normal increase in tritium con-centrations in precipitation accompanying vernal tropospheric inversions that occur at these latitudes.

4.3 Total alpha activity was found to be below detection limits for most samples, including those collected at Station No. 2, which exhibits the highest tritium and total beta levels at the site.

4.4 Samples collected at Stations No.:2,3,and 4 during late July and August of 1978 exhibited increased alpha and beta activity that may be associated with well excavation and trench recapping operations that were carried out at that time. Eleven pre-existing wells were excavated by backhoe and capped below grade, prior to trench recapping, near the north burial trenches on July 24-26. The excavations, up to 1 m deep, remained open until July 27, exposing trench cap sediments for transport to nearby streams. During the trench recapping operations, August 7-30, total alpha activity increased from'<4pCi/ to 1900 pCi/

in response to added sediment load. Radioactivity subsecuently decreased to 20 pCi/l during the week in which recapping oper-ations were completed.

4.5 Strontium-90 is the predominant beta emitter detected in surface water samples for which analyses for specific radionuclides were performed. It is estimated that strontium-90 contributes approximately one-half of the total beta acti-vity in whole water samples.

4.6 Tritium as 3HHO is by far the most abundant trench wa-ter radionuclide in all the trenches studied, without excmo-tion. In most cases, tritium is more than two orders of magnitude greater than the second most abundant radionuclide.

4.7 Strontium-90 ranks as the second most abundant trench water radionuclide in six of the eleven trenches studied.

Strontium-90 ranks among the top four in all trenches studied.

Values in trench 4 are the highest of any trench studied; 5

1

1 this is consistent with burial records showing burial af a large number of curies of strontium-90 in trench 4.

4.8 Because of the turbulence created by the water sampling technique and because of adsorption and other complicating factors, measured concentrations of plutonium in trench water probably do not reflect the amount of plutonium released in-to the wate- in any given trench. Thouah comparisons of relative concentrations between trenches may be valid, the data should not be used as a measure of the amount of pluto-nium in each trench.

4.9 Cesium-134 values observed in trench water samples from 9 of the 10 trenches studied, when plotted against the time interval between burial of waste and trench water analysis, fall on a line of steadily decreasing activity as the time for decay increases. Because of the relatively short half life of cesium-134, this relationship between activity and age is expected.

4.10 Carbon-14 (total) in trench water ranks second or third among radionuclides in all the south trenches studied. In the north trenches in general, carbon-14 values are much smaller than in the south trenches, though isolated higher values have been found. This relationship is in good agree-ment with the quantities of carbon-14 known to be buried in the trenches, though burial records are somewhat ambiguous.

4.11 Iodine-129 in trench water is observed in very low concentrations in the trenches studied to date. However, the concentration of stable iodine in trench 10 was found to be extremely high (17.2 mg/1). The most probable sourc a for this stable iodine is from activated charcoal filtering systems, which are quite wide-spread in use in the nuclear industry.

9.12 In general, the results of standard engineering tests in soils from the West Valley site confirm the results pre-dicted by testing performed in 1977.

4.13 Samples from the walls of Research Trench III showed some increase in moisture content after submersion for al-most two years, accompanied by a decrease in strength and unit weight. This indicates a slight swelling of the soil, as would be expected. The small amount of swelling confirms results of swell testing in the 1977 investigation.

4.14 A minimum strength for the Research Trench III wall slope can be estimated, since the slope remained stable under sudden draw down conditions. The minimum developed 6

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l cohesion is approximately 18.9kN/m2 ,

4.15 The maximum strength of soils of the lowermost bench in Research Trench III - in the shallow, softened soils of the trench wall - can be estimated from failure data. Por-tions of the lowermost bench that were greater than approxi-mately 1.2 m above the floor failed. It is believed that 4 failures occurred both before and after drawdown. A value was estimated for the developed cohesion at failure under submerged conditions (2.54 kN/m2 ), and a slightly higher value ditionswas estimateg)

(4.79 kN/m for failure under sudden drawdown con-4.16 Analyses of samples of soil from the north burial area trench caps for total alpha and total beta showed no values above the estimated natural background activity of the burial till.

4.17 Analyses of samples of soil from the north burial area trench caps for tritium showed approximate background levels at the surface and levels of tritium up to two orders of magnitude above background levels at depths of 20 to 50 cm.

Samples from the south burial area were analyzed at depth only; these values were also nearly two orders of magni-

tude above background levels for tritium.

4.18 The maximum observed vertical migration of tritium was beneath trench 8. Detection limits (3x10-6pCi/ml) were reached at a depth slightly greater than 3.2 m below the estimated trench floor with a possible trench floor loca-tion error of 0.3 m. The minimum observed vertical migra-tion of tritium was beneath trench 4. Activity dropped below detectable limits at a maximum depth of 2.25 m below the trench-floor. Migration beneath trench 8 represents

'. just under seven years of migration; the shorter distance beneath trench 4 represents ten years of migration.

4.19 In comparing measurements of tritium and carbon-14 be-

) neath trench 5 to a depth of approximately 9 m below land sur-s face a clear general relationship does emerge. Over this range the carbon-14 concentration dropped by a factor of approximately 20, whereas tritium decreased by a factor of 2 to 3 over the same depth interval. This indicates that the carbon-14 migrates at a much slower rate than the tritium.

However, because of'different trench water concentrations and different limits of detection it is not possible to com-pare directly the migration distances of tritium and carbon-14 . .

4.20 Detectable concentrations of strontium-90 below the trenches _were found 4 values above beneath detection limitstrenches were found 4 and and 5. may Beneath havetrench been 7

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l up to 70 cm below the trench floor; the uncertain location j

of the trench floor precludes a more accurate estimate.

Beneath trench 5 values above detection limits were found 5 cm below the estimated trench floor with a possible trench floor location error of 15 cm. In short, evidence for the migra-tion of strontium-90 beneath the trenches is suggestive, but inconclu-sive.

4.21 Plutonium-238 may have been detected beneath all three '

trenches studied and'in four of the five sub-trench cores.

1 Most of the dat. show values above computed background levels for West Valley soil. Whether in all cases these values.re-j flect actual migration in the soil is difficult to ascertain.

The large potential laboratory counting errors for most of these analyses make any interpretation somewhat speculative.

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4.22 Radionuclides showing essentially no detectable acti-vity beneath the trench floor include iron-55, nickel-63, iodine-129, americium-241, cobalt-60, and ruthenium-106.

Radionuclides showing activity attributable to the naturally- -

occurring element include plutonium-239, potassium-40, j

i thorium-232, uranium-234, -235, and -238.

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5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS In the course of this investigation a number of possible future paths of investigation were identified. These recom-mendations are discussed in more detail in sections 6.0 through 10.0 of this report.

5.1 Because trench recapping activities conducted in 1978 significantly altered the drainage pattern at the burial site, any continued surface water study must include remapping of ,

,' the drainage basins.

5.2 Any further studies must address the problem of iden-tifying on-site sources of radionuclides other than the low-i level radioactive waste burial site. For example, a new surface water monitoring station that would monitor all runoff

' from the NRC-licensed burial area would be essential in add-ressing the problem of radionuclide source. ,

5.3 In order to better understand the mechanisms for trans-port of certain radionuclides, a study of grain size versus total beta in sediment from surface water samples should be undertaken. If this shows any clear relationships, a further

' study involving specific radionuclides could be undertaken.

5,4 High concentrations of plutonium-238 in trench water rppear to' constructively interfere with the analysis of americium-241. This problem has been encountered in trench 10 and may be affecting values of americium-241 in other i

trenches as well.- The effects of plutonium-238 on americium-l 241' analyses should be investigated.

! 5.5 Because of the very high value of stable iodine observed I in trench 11, further analyses should be done to determine i the values in other trenches.

5.6 Because it has been surmised that the trench caps may serve as a medium for migration of tritiated gases and for

> exchange with stable fluids, continued analysis of trench cap samples should be undertaken to further define the magnitude,

[

mechanism.and extent of migration of' tritium at shallow depths within the trench cap.

5.7 In_ conjunction with the above recommendation, parallel studies of soil and trench gases would identify some of the-nuclides available for diffusion through, or retention in, the Earlier studies suggest that 3HH may exchange

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' trench caps.-

with water ontained.in the trench caps, and that.3 HCH3, 14CH4, and 14CO 2 undergo " substantial aerobic decomposition in the trench caps". Continued studies of the' efficiency of the 9

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i trench caps in retaining radionuclides should include an l j

evaluation of these equilibration processes and rates. In addition, quantitiative effects of trench cap fractures upon gas flux remain to be defined.

5.8 Future studies of sub-trench migration of radionuclides-should include additional analyses of cores using longer core sections to obtain higher sensitivity in the regions showing values near detection limits. This would provide greater accuracy in defining the migration rate of tritium, as well as help clear up problems associated with the interpretation of data on carbon-14, strontium-90 and plutonium-238 migra-tion rates.

5.9 Now that a substantial body of information has been obtained from field experiments on migration rates and from l computer modeling of this migration, laboratory experiments should be done to study the adsorption and desorption pro-perties of the West Valley soil. Adsorption and desorption should be reversible procedures; if not, this is evidence for the creation of neutral substances or the formation of radiocolloids. In order to test the various components of the West Valley soil for its adsorption properties, a sam-ple of uncontaminated soil from the West Valley site could be broken down into its various components for testing with a sample of water from the burial trenches. Desorption could then be carried out on these same samples to test the reversi-bility of adsorption experiments.

10

6.O SURFACE WATER STUDY 6.1 Introduction NRC-funded studies at West Valley include a program to examine potential radionuclide migration from the LLRWB site by means of the surface water pathway. Some elements of this study are a continuation of research efforts that were begun in December, 1975, as reported by Ragan and others (39).

Collection and analysis of surface water and sediment samples were undertaken in order to evaluate the hydrologic and radio-chemical factors that influence radionuclide concentrations in surf acewaters, and to estimate the total tritium activity passing through the monitoring stations. Water samples were collected from three small streams that drain the burial site, and from two larger off-site streams. Samples were analyzed for total alpha, total beta, and tritium activity; in addition, selected surface water samples were analyzed for specific radio-nuclides.

The surface water study was designed, and is conducted jointly by the NYSGS, the USGS - Water Resources Division, and the RSL, NY State Health Department. The NYSGS has principal responsi-bility for sample collection a M interpretation of surface water data. The USGS, through a cooperative agreement, purchases, installs, and maintains surface water equipment and interprets hydrologic records. The RSL analyzes surface water and sediment samples and interprets radiochemical data.

6.2 Method of Study Equipment to record stream stage and automatically collect flow-proportioned water samples was installed in December, 1975, as part of USEPA-funded Part I research. Locations of the sampling stations are shown in Figure 1.

Stations No. 2 and 4 are located on two small streams

• that drain approximately one-half of the LLRWB site; in addition, part of the adjacent NRC-licensed burial area is included in the drainage sampled at Station No. 2. Station No. 1 collects

• In August of 1978 an earthen benn was installed approximately 10 m upstream of the flume at Station No. 3 (shown on Figure 1), redirecting runoff frcxn that station to the area drained by the State No. 4 stream. Surface water sa:rple collection at Station No. 3 was term-inated in August, 1978.

11

samples of drainage from the remainder of the burial site, and from a-large area outside the confines of the LLRWB site.

i Approximate drainage basin boundaries are shown in Figure 2.

f Stations No. 2 and 4 are equipped with Instrumentation

. Specialties Co. (ISCO) flow-proportioned composite samplers l and Stevens graphi~ cal stage recorders. Station No. 1 is equip-ped with a' Fisher-Porter digital stage recorder and an ISCO sequential sampler. Equipment layout is illustrated in Figure 3 and summarized in Table 1. The use of both flow meters and stage recorders at Stations No. 2 and 4 results in two sets of streamflow data. .Streamflows calculated from digital flow meter totalizer recordings are nearly the same as those calcu-lated by summing the mean daily discharge valuas obtained from stage recorder data. Discrepancies generally occur when there

, _are known monitoring device malfunctions or when the limits of the equipment are reached. Unless otherwise indicated in re-

, port, weekly streamflows at Stations No. 2 and 4 have been computed on the basis of flow meter (which measures streamflow directly and continuously) rather than stage recorder data.

Streamflow values derived from flow meter and stage records j are given in Appendix A.

4

! Several types of samples are collected at the LLRWB site.

j These include flow-proportioned weekly composites, and grab

! samples collected _during high and low stages. Table 2 lists

] and describes s.mple types, and Figures 4 through 8 depict sample processing.

Ice in the flumes and stilling wells frequently clogged the automatic sampling equipment during the winter. A revised surtace water sampling program (shown in Table 3) was put into effect in November, 1979, in order to insure the continued sampling of surface water during the winter months.

Subsurface flow at Station No. 4 was monitored at a portable weir installed at that station in November, 1979. In order to compare the low levels of site-associated radioactivity with i

those occurring in nearby off-site streams, samples are col- .

lected monthly at Buttermilk Creek at Fox Valley Road in Riceville Station, and at Connoisarauley Creek at Connoisarauley I Road in East Otto. Background samples are analyzed for total I

alpha, total beta, and tritium activity. Resalts of analyses ,

are included in Appendix B.

Precipitation at West: Valley is measured at two rain gages that were adapted for snow between November 14th and April 9th, 1980.

Precipitution for-July, 1978* through December, 1979 is given in Appendix A.

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• Sme surface water samples collected in 1978 were analyzed in 1979. For that reason,' precipitation.and streamflow for portions of 1978 are in-cluded in this annual report.

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Stage recorder stilling wc!!(3) O Flow meter stilling

\ oat Fl (6) % Flow meter stilling well (5) well intake pipe (4) i Figure 3. Plan view of surface water monitoring and sampling equipment. A portion of water passing through flume (1) enters stage recorder stilling well intake pipe (2) to stage recorder stilling well (3) to flow meter stilling well intake pipe (4) and to flow meter stilling well (5). Float (6) is raised and flow meter (7) sends signals to sampler at frequency proportional to preset flow in accordance with preset multiplier setting. Sampler (8) is I I

activated and sample drawn from catch box (9).

14

TABLE 1. Stream monitoring and sampling equipment installed at the West Valley burial site.

Stations Itcm Purpose where installed 6" Parshall Flume Directs stream flw through an 2, 4 artificial channel that has pre-calibrated stage-discharge relationship.

Stevens A-35 Stage Provides continuous graphical 2, 4 Fecorder record of strean stage for calculation of streamfim.

Instrument Specialties 1. Provides digital record of 2, 4 Co. (ISCO) Fbdel 1470 flw volume for any given tire Flw Meter period.

2. Sends activator signal to scrpler at preset flow-volume intervals.

ISCO Ibdel 1580 Collects ccraposite of individual 2, 4 Canposite Sampler samples upon receipt of sicnals frun flw meter.

ISCO Model 1392 Cbilects one 250-ml surface 1 Sequential water grab sample at pre-Sampler determined tire intervals.

Fisher Porter Provides record of stream stage 1 Digital Punch at 15-minute intervals and Pecorder produces punched tape which beccxnes standard input for USGS hydrologic analysis ccruputer programs.

15 -

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TABIE 2. Surface water samples collected near low-level radioactive l waste burial site.

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Sample Type Description Surface Water Grab An incidental, tso-liter grab sanple collected during the absence of autcznated surface water sampling.

Ibnthly Sediment " Fine" sediment deposits collected mantully Grabs frm areas upstream of Station No. 2 and adjacent to Station No. 1.

Weekly Im Flow Grabs Two-liter, whole water grab samples collected at Stations No. 2 and 4 when outside staff gage is <4.3 m. Collected at Station No. I based upon visual observation of turbidity.

Autmatically- Variable-volume samples collected with ISCO Collected Weekly autcmatic surface water sanpling cauipnent.

Cmposites Stonn Grabs 'Iko-liter surface water grab samples collected manually during and after stonts.

Monthly Background Two-liter, whole water samples collected frm Grabs nearby Connoisarauley and Buttennilk Creeks.

Autcmatically- A fixed-volume (250 ml) autcmatically-collected collected Daily daily grab sample collected at Station No. 1.

Surface Water Grab Ion-exchange 'Iko-year composites of filtered (50p, gravity Column Ccmposites filtration) surface water samples. Column resins analyzed for specific nuclides.

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i SAMPLE TYPE: Weekly automatically collected flow proportioned composite.

COLLECTED FROM: Stations 2 and 4 V

OM-SITE PROCESSINC: Transferred from 20 liter com-posite carboy to 2- and 4-liter bottles.

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3 ANALYSES AT RSL: Total a, total 8, HHO Figure 4. Weekly composite Sample Processing.

17

. - . - - -- - .-- .- . = - - .- - . . .. .- . _. - _. - =.. .. . -

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! SAMPLE TYPE: 2 weekly low flow whole water grabs, N 2 liters each. l I r COLLECTED FROM: Stations 1, 2, and 4.

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, ON-SITE PROCESSING: None Gravity filtration with 50p paper r

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4 Filtrate passed thru j ion exchange column i

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ANALYSES AT RSL: Analysis for specific radionuclides performed .

v on ion exchange column resin. Filter papers Total a stored for possible i

! Togal8 HHO future analysis.

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i l Figure 5. Weekly Low Flow Grab Sample Processing.

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SAMPLE TYPE: 2 monthly whole water background grabs, s 2 liters.

COLLECTED FROM: Connoisarauley Creek at Connois-arauley Road and also, Buttermilk Creek at Fox Valley Road (two 2-liter crabs at each location) v ON-SITE PROCESSING: None Gravity filtration with 50p paper V

Filtrate passed thru ion exchange column if i/

ANALYSES AT RSL: Total a Analysis for specific Total 8 radionuclides performed on ion exchange column 3HHO resin. Filter papers stored for possible future analysis.

Figure 6. Monthly Background Grab Sample Processing.

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SAMPLE TYPE: Storm Grab N 2 liters COLLECTED FROM: Stations 1, 2, and 4 and miscellaneous locations.

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ON-SITE PROCESSING: None V

ANALYSES AT RSL: Total a, total 6, HHO l

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Figure 7. Storm Grab Sample Processing. l l

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SAMPLE TYPE: Monthly, solid stream bed sediment grab sample.

COLLECTED FROM: Stations 1, 2 V

ON-SITE AND OTIIER PROCESSING: Cloth bag with sediment allowed to air dry until hard

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Grain size separation performed in Albany, New York State Geo-logical Survey Labs V

ANALYSES AT RSL: Total a and total 6 performed on fine, (<230 standard mesh size) fraction.

Figure P. Monthly Stream Bed Sediment Grab Sample Processing.

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1 TABLE 3. Winter Surface Water Sanpling Program Stations Sanple Type , Explanation 1,2 & 4 Grab, Im Flow At. Stations 2 & 4 these samples are collected when the outside staff gauge exhibits <a 4.3 on stage. Analysis of graphical records of stage at these stations indicates that " base" or low flows are at stages of 4.3 on or less.

At station #1 a visual detennination is used to assess turbidity for the purpose of detennining if a low flow ,

condition exists. '

1,2 & 4 Grab, snowmelt %ese grab sanples were collected to and/or stonn examine those flows caused by melting runoff snow, ice and/or winter rainstorms, generally when the channel was not choked with ice.

1,2 & 4 Grab, Supra and Wese grab samples were collected to Sub Ice Flow examine flows over, between and under ice accumulations in the channel.

J 4 -Grab, surface In Septa ber of 1979, record flows water flow occurred in response to residual

-Grab, subsurface precipitation fran Hurricane Frederick flow High flows at the #4 Swamp station

-Grab, mixed created an apparent piping system surface and below it. Measured discharge through subsurface flow this piping network ranges fran Sml/s to 300ml/s when no surface flow is evident.

1,2 & 4 Grabs, incidental These samples are collected to examine unusual flow conditions created by natural extremes in climate or the i activities of humans.

22

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l 6.3 Results and Discussion 6.3.1 Tritium Tritium, as tritiated water, is the most abundant radionuclide detected in surface water samples. It is estimated that roughly 1.8 x 10-1 Ci* of tritium were tra.cmitted through Station No. 2 durir.g the period 7/24/78 - 12/17/79.**

Tritium concentrations in composite samples collected at Station No. 2 during the study period varied from 1820 pCi/1 10%

to 88,000 pCi/l 4%. As indicated in Figure 9, highest tritium concentrations occurred in samples collected during periods of low precipitation. This increased activity in stream samples probably reflects the loss to the drainage basin of diluting precipitation, which contains lower, ambient levels of tritium.***

Total tritium activity for Stations No. 1 and 4 was not calcu-

]

lated for 1979 because submitted analytical values were fre-1 quently below detection limits, or contained large deviations.

Tritium activity in samples collected at these two stations during 1979 remained within the range of variation for ambient tritium.

Higher than expected tritium concentrations were found in all samples collected during May, 1979. This msf reflect, in part, the normal increase in tritium concentrations in precipitation i

accompanying vernal tropospheric inversions that occur at these latitudes (25).

6.3.2 Total Alpha and Total Beta Activities in Water Samples Total alpba and total beta measurements are performed for each water sample in order to screen for the presence of radio-nuclides and to provide a basis for selection of samples to be analyzed furtner.for specific radioisotopes.

• Total tritium activity is determined by summing the products of tritium activities (pCi/1) in composite samples and the streamflows (1) for the corresponding time periods.

• • No data available for 10/10/78 - 4/29/79, or 9/30/79 -

• • • 11/15/79.

General ambient levels of tritium in precipitation due to cosmic rays and nuclear weapons testing are approximately 200-1000 pCi/ liter (14). On-site values of tritium measured in 1979 by NFS range from 600-1200 pCi/ liter. Maximum per-missible concentration of tritium in drinking water is 20,000 pCi/l(44) .

23

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Figure 9. Graph of tritium activity in composite surface water samples collected at Station No. 2 versus weekly precipitation (cm).

f

Laboratory limitations inherent in this analysis are the loss of volatile fractions (especially radiciodine, tritium and carbon-14), difficulty in establishing radiometric standard-ization for a mixture of unknown alpha and beta emitters (31) ,

and absorption of beta particles by sediments that overlie other beta emitters in the sample.

Total alpha and total beta activities of surface water samples are included in Appendix B. Alpha activity is below detection limits for most samples, including those collected at Station No. 2, which exhibits the highest tritium and total beta lev-els at the site.

Samples collected at Stations No. 2, 3 and 4 during late July and August of 1978 exhibited increased alpha and beta activity that may be associated with well excavation and trench recapping activities carried out at that time. Eleven pre-existing wells were excavated by backhoe and capped below grade, prior to trench recapping, near the north bur.ial trenches on July 24-26.

The excavations, which were up to ) m deep, remained open until July 27, exposing trench cap sedimants for transport to nearby streams. (Radioactivity of the now trench caps is discussed in section 9.0 of this report) . Recipping of the north burial trenches (which required removine several em of topsoil) began on August 7th and was completed (n August 30th. A more de-tailed description of recapping grocedures is given in our 1978 Annual Report (10).

Total alpha and total beta activities in composite water sam-ples collected at Stations No. 2, 3, and 4 are shown in Figure

10. Activity levels clearly increased at all stations during the weeks of trench recapping operations, and subsequently de-creased to ambient levels after operations ceased. (Note that ambient levels of total beta activity for Station No. 2, plott-ed on Figure 10, are above values for the other two stations).

The major cause of the elevated activity is probably the ten-to twenty-fold increased in sediment loads that occurred at all stations while the trenches were being recapped. This correlation between sediment load and radionuclide concentra-tions also explains why tritium (not shown in Figure 10), a radionuclide not associated with the sediment fraction, showed no increase during that time.

6.3.3 Detailed Radiochemical Analyses of Water Samples Strontium-90 is the predominant beta emitter detected in sur-  ;

face water samples for which anclyses for specific radio- l nuclides were performed. It is estimated that Sr-90 contri-butes approximately one-half of the total beta, activity in whole water samples (Table 4).

l 25

2500-s Station No.2

~ w,ig

+ Station No.3 Excavation Trench Recopping e Station No.4 * '

~ T Total Alpho 2000- - - Total Beta I II

,I -

Open symbols designate alpha k <  !

1 I

h

~

octivity below detection limits. / \

\ \

S -

/ l

\ FJ z . I \ / /

\

9 A / \ \ l ti 1500-r -

/

/s s

f g

/

gg/

5

/ \ f I \ / \

/

\

g / 's V ,N / I il \

• g w e 1000-y I ^~ 's l \  ;

o a s / /

s I g x / s I \

8 /

~

, 'S N \

6 kI g

\

500-

~

\\I

\4 /

by

/

s N

al I

('s 'm

\ .W' 6 ~/ f a ,

~'~~

O b ,. _

f tw MAY I JUNE I JULY l AUGUST l SEPTEMBER IOCT.

Figure 10. Total alpha and total beta activity in canposite samples collected at Stations No. 2, 3, and 4, May 1 through October 9,1978. Points designate last day of week of acrnposite sample collection.

TABLE 4. Sr-90 Activity (as mininum percent of total beta activity) in surface water sanples frcm Station No. 2.

Suspended Collection Total beta Sr-90 Sr-90 Sediment Date (pCi/l) (pCi/l) (as % of T. Beta) (g/1) 5/1/78 + 1210 4% 780 5% 58.9% 0.0 5/8/78 + 1210 4% 610 6% 45.6% 0.8 5/1/79 + 1550 9% 1040 3% 59.7% 2.5 5/7/79 + 1290 8% 1080 2 3% 54.2% 3.4 4/30-5/7/79* 1410 9% 1060 3% 66.9% 2.7 5/15-5/21/79* 1620 9% 850 3% 46.7% 2.5 6/4/79 + 1740 8% 910 3% 47.0% 0.7 6/18/79 + 1470 9% 850 3% 51.5% 1.4 9/17/79 + 1290 9% 650 3% 44.8% 1.3 9/17-9/24/79* 1320 9% 630 3% 42.5% 3.1

+ Im Flow Grab

• Cm posite 27

Although earlier studies (39) indicate that total beta acti-vity (and presumably, Sr-90) is contained rimarily in the fine sediment fractions, there is not a well-defined correspondence 1 of Sr-90 activity in the samples analyzed to the amount of I

suspended sediment in the samples. This may reflect de- '

graded counting efficiency due to sample self-absorption in samples that contain relatively large amounts of sediment.

It also suggests that samples with large sediment concentra-tions (which are generally those collected during high flow events) contain greater fractions of sand and coarse:r sedi-ments, thus, the activity is not proportionate to the weight of sediment in the sample, as ;he surface area (per gram of sediment) available for adsorption of strontium is reduced.

Other specific radionuclides for which analyses were per-formed are presented in Appendix B. Many nuclides (Na-22, Fe-55, Ba-133, and Cs-134) are consistently below detection limits. Others (C-14, Ni-63, Sr-90, Pu-238, Pu-239, -240) fluctuate sporadically; however, the small number of sam-ples analyzed precludes any valid conclusions being drawn from relating activity variations to other factors (dis-charge, precipitation, sediment load).

6.3.4 A iysis of Sediment Samplec Stream sediments collected from Stations No. 1 and 2 were analyzed for total alpha and total beta activity. Sediment samples were crushed, sieved, and the <0.0625 mm fractions submitted for analysis. All samples collected at Station No.

1 exhibited total alpha and total beta activity that was not above the estimated natural radioactivity of the burial till (9). Sediment samples collected at Station No. 2 exhibited near-ambient alpha activity; beta activity of these stream sediments, however, was nearly one order of magnitude greater than the burial till's estimated background beta activity.

A soil sample

• collected during the study from the north buri-al area within the Station No. 2 drainage basin exhibited ambient levels of beta activity. This may suggest that there is a source other than the trench caps for the high beta val-ues. Potential sources within the Station No. 2 drainage basin include: the continuing burial operations and the surface of the NRC-licensed burial area, the two buried la-goons shown on figure 14, and various other possible sources such as the buried line for pumping trench water to the low-level waste treatment plant near the main process buildings.

• Sections 8.0 and 9.0 discuss in detail the trench cap soil analyses.

28 i

l l

6.3.5 Sorption Experiment Surface water aamples were collected at Stations No. 1, 2, and 4, and at B:sttermilk Creek and Connoisarauley Creek to evaluate which radicions, if any, are present in solution.

Two-liter samples were collected weekly at each station from August, 1977 to September, 1979. The samples were filtered, composited, and passed through Barnstead mixed-bed cation-anion exchange columns (Figures 5 & 6). The column resins In addition, the were analyzed for Cs-137, Ru-106, and Zr-95.

column resin for samples collected at Station No. 2 was ana-lyzad for Cs-134, Co-60, Ba-133, and Na-22. All radionuclides for which analyses were performed (given in Appendix B) were ~

below detection limits. This may indicate that the radionu-clides, if present, are sorbed to the sediments and transported in that medium, or, perhaps that insufficient sample volume was passed through the columns to allow detection of dis-solved nuclides. It may indicate, also, that there has been insuf ficient time for equilibration with the column resins, or that neutral complexes (eg. humic and fulmic acids) containing radionuclides are present in the natural aquatic system.

6.4 Further Studies .

Trench recapping activities conducted in 1978 significantly altered the drainage patterns of the LLRWB site. Any con-tinued surface water study must include remapping of the drainage basins to establish runoff and channelled flow drain-age patterns and radionuclide transport in surface water.

The revised surface water program currently being planned for the waste burial site will incorporate a new, or revamped sur-face water station (or stations), near the present site of Station No. 2. This new station (or stations) will use a new design that should address the site-specific monitoring pro-blems encountered in earlier studies. The study will assess the sediment load and radiochemistry of the drainage, and will include an effort to identify the radionuclides derived from the NRC-licensed burial area, the LLRWB area, and other possi-ble source areas within the drainage basin.

Analyses on samples passed through ion exchange columns showed values below detection limits. The filter pads containing sediment, filtered from these samples prior to being processed through the ion exchange columns,should be analyzed for specific radionuclides, including strontium-90 and carbon-14.

These analyses would determine which, if any, radionuclides are adsorbed onto these sediments.

29 l

l 7.0 TRENCH WATER STUDY l 7.1 Introduction Both infiltrated. water in contact with the wastes in the buri-al trenches and gases liberated from the wastes and generated by the decomposition of the wastes are potential sources of environmental contaminants. In order to define the chemical and radiochemical characteristics of these materials for use in modeling and direct measurement of migration rates, a pro-gram of sampling and analysis of trench water and trench gas was undertaken in 1976 during the first phase of this project.

Wells for sampling were installed by the USGS in a cooperative program with the NYSGS with the assistance of RSL personnel.

All chemical and radiochemical analyses were carried out by the RSL. The phase of the study described in this report re-presents a continuation of the on-going study of trench war .

In 1976 trench water samples were collected from the five north-end trenches (1 through 5) and analyzed chemically and radiochemically. In September, 1977, nine additional samples were collected from four north trenches (1, 2, 4, and 5) and four south trenches (8, 9, 12, and 14). The purpose was to resample some of the north-end trenches to gain a time pers-pective on radiochemical contents of the trench water and to sample 'ame of the south trenches for study for the first time.

The original plan for the present phase of study was to drive two to four wells for collection of anoxic water samples from the south burial trenches. Trenches 8 and 13 were chosen for sampling, the former because it had yielded the highest re-corded values for several radionuclides, and the latter be-cause it had only one well (13-1A) from which to collect water samples. Because of a four-month delay in gaining permis-sion to drive the planned wells, in August the decision was made by the NYSGS and the RSL to collect samples from exist-ing wells rather than frcm two planned wells in order to allow timely completion of detailed radiochemical analyses. Samples vere collected in mid-August from wells 8-1B, 10-sump, ll-sump and 14-1A.

7.2 r uter Sample Collection Collection of trench water samples was carried out by person-nel of the Radiological Sciences Laboratory of the N.Y. State Health Department on August 14-15, 1979.

30

l ,

l In order to insure that no oxidation of the trench water samples takes place during the sampling process, a technique was dev-eloped so that water samples are in contact with an inert gas atmosphere (argon) and not with ambient air. This technique is modeled on a procedure originally developed by Columbo, Weiss and Francis ( 2) at Brookhaven Laboratory. The field sampling apparatus is assembled as shown in the schematic diagram in rigure 11, using Tygon laboratory grade (R3606) tubing. The system is evacuated and filled with argon. Three evacuation / argon fill cycles are performed to insure that the system is air-free and the samples are as anoxic as possible. A small, positive argon pressure is maintained during the collection. To cbtain anoxic water, the first twenty liters or more is pumped out and dis-posed of. The presence of anoxic water in the sanpling system is evidenced by a stabilization of Eh. At that time the pH, Eh and temperature are measured and the filter reservoir is filled with trench water. After the peristaltic pump is shut off and the pump stopcock closed, the trench water is pressure filtered through a 9 cm glass-fiber filter *. The filtered sample is preserved in an anoxic state in the collection bottle. The filter is removed from the reservoir and stored with the col-lection bottle in a styrofoam-lined, wooden box at ambient air temperature prior to shipment to the laboratory.

Four well points were initially chosen for sample collection; the decision of which two s.mples to analyze was to be made in the laboratory. The well points chosen were: 8-1B on Trench 8, the north 6-inch sump well on Trench 10, the 6-inch sump well on Trench 11, and well 13-1A on Trench 13. Because of sampling problems (see below) well 14-1A was substituted for well 13-1A.

Attempts to collect trench water from well 13-1A on August 14 were not successful. During pumping prior to actual sampling (in order to ensure as anoxic a sample as possible) the well ran dry. Well 14-1A was chosen as an alternate sampling point.

During sampling at well 14-1A the filtering equipment developed leaks, however, a samale was obtained. On August 15, samp ec were collected from trenches 8, 10, and 11: wells 8-1B, the trench 10 new 6-inch sump (north) and the trench 11 6-inch sumo.

All attempts at collection were successful and only minor problems with the peristaltic pump were encountered.

It should be noted that immediately after collection, samples from trenches 14 and 11 showed signs of oxidation. This was evidenced by brown "Fe(OH) 3" adhering to the walls of the glass container. This process continued progressively for several days before apparently stabilizing.

• Because of problems with filtering using millipore filters, as described in Section 8.3 of last year's Annual Report (10) a nav system was devised.

31

A VALVE FILTER M g RESERVOIR ,

rb PERISTALTIC n '

--@r--

w k i w pH RLT - #

"~

tral W L Eh COLLECTION OI T T Ar BOTTLE T -

!  ! _ MANOMETER g g -

i ACUUM 4 <

1 WASTE PUMP Figure 11.

Schematic diagram of trench water collection apparatus.

l 7.3 Water Wells On November 27 and 28, 1979, two 1 -inch diameter 60-mesh, 24-inch, button or washer screen well points were driven into trenches 13 and 8. Using a portable aluminum tripod equipped with motor-driven cathead and 140-pound hamner, 1%-inch diam-eter galvanized pipe sections were driven to depths below the trench water level. The procedure was as follows: 1) hand-auger to a depth of three feet, 2) drive well point and initial length of pipe, 3) test for methane with a portable, battery operated methanometer (accurate to 0.1% methane),

4) add bentonite and water around the pipe as a sealant,

5) drive additional lengths of pipe using same procedure un-til depth to trench water is reached, 6) add a length of pipe to extend well two to three feet above ground surface, and 7) add bentonite and water around the pipe and tamp.

Several factors were considered in the location of wells.

"irst, the depth to water level in the trenches was ascer-tained. Because the trench floors slope southward, the depth of water in the trenches controls the length of trench bottom covered by water. Second, the location of subtrench core holes was determined, since proximity to core holes increases the value of the data collected. Third, burial records were scanned for location of any impenetrable objects, such as concrete casks, to be avoided.

Well 8-2C was driven to a depth of 29 feet below land surface so that the top of the two-foot screen section of the well point is at water level (26.5 ft.). This driven depth is one-half foot above the estimated trench bottom (29.5 ft.) Well 13-2A was driven to a depth of 25.5 feet below the surface so that the top of the well screen is more than two feet below water level (20.8 ft.). This driven depth is 4.5 feet above the estimated trench bottom (30 ft.). Hard objects - those that essentially stop driving of the pipe for several blows -

were encountered at 16.5 feet and 21.5 feet depth in both wells.

This coincidence may be the result of a similar method of stack-ing waste in these two trenches , though an analysis of blow counts during previous drilling programs at the site revealed no pattern of hard object distribution.

7.4 Radiochemical Analyses of Trench Water Two of the four samples collected in August were selected for analysis: one from the six-inch diameter sump in the northern half of trench 10 and the other from the six-inch diameter sump in trench 11. These were chosen because no detailed analyses 33

had yet been done on water samples from trenches 10 and 11.* i The oxidation in the sample from trench 11 was effectively reversed by the addition to an aliquot of a small amount of concentrated HNO 3 , re-adsorbing the precipitate and allowing analyses to proceed as normal.

j

All radiochemical analyses were carried out by staff of the Radiological Sciences Laboratory of the New York State Health a

Department 3 (RSL)Sr, dissolved HHO,

$0 Samples z38 Pu, 239, were240pu, analyzed radiochemically 1

for 60go, 63 i, 23 g, 24 Am, 14gg(hInorganicg4 2 14C (Organic), 134gb,37g3,55p0, I 2 U, 23 0, l T ,

2 Na, Mn, 106R u, 40 K, total a, and total B. For certain radionuclides the suspended fraction was ana-lyzed as well. Samples also were analyzed for stable iodine.

Eh, pH and temperature were determined in the field. The data are listed in Table 5. A detailed description of the trench water laboratory analysis techniques is included as Appendix C.

7.5 Discussion of Trench Water Data Review of records of the contents of the trenches (shipping documents, NFS log books, and miscellaneous notes) reveals a variety of waste material and containers, including 55 gallon drums, wood and cardboard crates, steel and concrete casks, and dozens of miscellaneous waste forms distributed in the trenches without systematic variation from north to south (29,30) .

Detailed investigation of trench 5, one of the north trenches, demonstrated that, despite the heterogeneity of the trench con-tents, 'ariations between different parts of trench 5 are apparently small, and variations over time are also relatively small (12). As for the mode of burial, we know that in the south trenches, in general, metal drums were stacked on their sides, one on top of the other. These stacks were placed at intervals of about 20 feet (according to recollections by NFS personnel).

and other packages Between were these stacks cardboard and wooden boxes buried.

Large steel or concrete casks were usually placed at the bottom of the trench, between stacks of drums (37). In view of this apparent heterogeneity of the south trenches and the fact that certain nuclide species in a

the trench water are not in chemical equilibrium (see below),

it is prudent cific holes and to not draw to conclusions generalize relating only to data from spe-1 over the length of a trench.

In any case, the limited scope of the available data - only 1

• Cohnbo, Weiss and Francis (4) of Brookhaven Laboratory collected samples fran all 12 trenches during June and July of 1977. These samples were analyzed for totala, total 8, tritiun, and various ganma emitters. Their results are similar to the results reported here.

34 4

I i

,,v.---- , , - - - -

TABLE 5. Radiochemical and Chcrnical Analyses of Water Sanples Frcm Trenches 10 and 11, collected 8/14/79 (Data in p Ci/ml unless otherwise stated). Error term gives 2 o counting uncertainty in percent.

Radio- TRENCII 10 - PORI 11 SUMP TRENCII 11 - SUMP nuclide Dissolved Suspended Dissolved Suspended IUD 4.27 i3% 2.77 13%

3,33 3.25 E-02 3% 2.42 E-05 3% 2.5 E-02 3% 4.27 E-05 3%

gpanic 1.61 E-04 3% 1.67 E-07 3%

23gr 6.8 E-04 5% 3.59 E-07 3%

Pu 2.8 E-04 15% 6.0 E-05 11% 3.1 E-08 19% 9.6 E-09 10%

239,240P u 6.0 E-07 35% 1.2 E-07 31% 5.0 E-09 37% 6.1 E-09 11%

134Cs 2.1 E-06 14% 3.5 E-10 67% 3.3 E-06 9% 3.1 E-09 23%

137Cs 5.46 E-05 4% 1.S9 E-08 6% 4.23 E-04 3% 3.56 E-07 3%.

55Fe <l.6 E-07 <l.1 E-08 1.8 E-06 15% <L O E-08 60Co 3.1 E.07 45% 4.2 E-10 71% 6.7 E-07 19% 3.20 E-08 6%

63Ni 1.96 E-04 3%<3.0 E-09 1.52 E-04 3% <3.0 E-09 14C-inorganic 3.32 E-05 5% 3.4 E-08 6% 2.44 E-04 5% 4.9 E-08 5%

14 C

3.59 E-04 3% 3.05 E-07 5% 1.88 E-03 5% 3.62 E-06 5%

organic 12 I 5.8 E-08 25%<4 E-09 1.25 E-07 14% <2 E-09 234U 2.9 E-07 9% 2.6 E-08 9% 1.4 E-08 37% 3.2 E-09 16%

235U <6 E-10 <l.2 E-ll <8 E-10 2.6 E-10 45%

238U 8.0 E-09 20% 1.8 E-09 17% 6.8 E-08 22% 1.59 E-08 12%

241Am <l.1 E-06 < 7.0 E-08 2.1 E-08 31% 3.8 E-09 33%

232Th <6 E-07 1.1 E-09 143% <5 E-07 <9 E-10 22 Na 2.13 E-05 5% 2.2 E-09 23% 1.47 E-06 12% 1.4 E-09 34%

54Mn <l.8 E-07 <3 E-10 - <6 E-09 106 1u1 <2 E-06 <3 E-09 -- <l.2 E-09 Totala 1.33 E-03 3%<l.4 E-06 8.5 E-04 3% 1.17 E-06 15%

'Ibtala (pC1/g) 1.35 E-01 3% - 8.2 E-02 3% -

Tota 18 1.42 E-04 4% 5.2 E-05 11% <8 E-08 <3 E-07 Totals fuCi/g) 1.44 E-02 4% - <7 E-06 --

40K <l.4 E-06 <5 E-09 <l.9 E-06 <5 E-09 Eh(mv) -160 -270 pII 6.5 6.4

'ibup ( C) 13 11 I stable 17.2 ng/l 1.0 ng/l IFe 220 ng/l 88 ng/l Ni 2.4 ng/l 55/ng/l 35

well each in 5 of the 11 trenches studied - allows little room for general conclusions. Therefore, this discussion will con-centrate on inter-hole variations, comparing the data collected in sumps 10N and 11 with data collected earlier from other holes.

By comparing the data listed in Table 5 with data from the other 9 trenches studied to date, a table of the major radionuclide species listed in order of abundance for each trench studied has been prepared (Table 6).

Tritium As shown in Table 6, tritium as 3HHO* is by far the most abun-trenches studied, without dant radioactive exception; in mostelement samples, in 3Hall thgHHO as is more than two orders

, of magnitude greater than the second most abundant radionuclide.

Furthermore, the present study shows that tritium activities in both trenches 10 and 11 are the highest values yet measured in l

the trenches at West Valley (4.27 3% and 2.77 3% pCi/ml, j respectively).**

i i

The tritium concentration per ml of trench water has been analy-l zed for total tritium, dissolved organic tritium, and suspended organic tritium. The tritium associated with dissolved organic material is approximately 1 percent of the tritium concentration and the suspended organic tritium is approximately 0.001 percent of the tritium concentration.

It was not possible to weigh the amount of suspended organic material on the glass fiber filters, thus the tritium units (t.u. ) * *

• could not be directly estimated * * **. The dissolved organic carbon has been measured, however, and assum'ng that there are two hydrogen atoms associated with each organic car-bon atom,***** the t.u. for the dissolved organic material can be

• Unless stated otherwise, " tritium" refers to tritium as 3HHO.

! **A comparable value (5.6 pCi/ml with <20% counting un-1 certainty) was reported in a sample from sump 10N by l Columbo and others (4 , p. 29).

*** Tritium unit (t.u.) = # tritium atoms 1018 hydrogen atoms

• • • • For this reason activity values for suspended material,

.shown in Table 5 are given only in pCi/ml and not in relation to weigat (pCi/g).

! *****This is an approximation only, but probably a reasonably i

J accurate enc.

f 36

-v - 3 -

---m-

. - - - . , - - - - . -,- . - n -. s , - - , - e,, -.r,-

_ .~ __ _ _ _ .- - - - - - - - - . - - - -

TABLE 6. List of Radionuclides Dissolved in Trench Water in Order of Abundance in Trenches 1 through 5, 8 through 12, and 14.

r Nomu TrGCHES Order of 2 3 1 5 Abundance 1 1 3tmo 3tmo 31mo 3Imo 31mo 2 90Sr/63Ni (1) 90Sr 90S r 90Sr 90Sr 137 Cs 137Cs 63Ni 3 90Sr/63Ni : 63Ni/137Cs 4 - (2) 63Ni/137Cs 6$Ni 63Ni 137Cs 5s 55pe 55pe 5 - -- Fe 60 - 134Cs 6 - -

Co 7 -

8 -

SOUTH TRE2KEES ,

w 8 (3) 9 10 (3) 11(3) 12(4) 14 (3) 3t mo 3HHO 33 mo 3}mo 3t mo 33 mo j 1

2 63Ni 14C (total) 90Sr 14C (total) 137Cs 90S r  !

3 14C (total) 90S r 14C (total) 137Cs 14C (total) 14C (total) 137Cs 137C s/63Ni 238Pu 90Sr 90Sr 137Cs 4

5 238Pu 137C s/63Ni 63g1 63Ni 63N i 63Ni 90S r - l~.>7Cs 134Cs 6000 134Cs 6

134Cs - 22Na 55pe 232Th S5Fe 7

- - -- 22Na - 6000 8

(1) If two radionuclides are equally ranked they are listed cide by side. t (2) A dash indicates that values are close to or below detection limits: not enough information is available for ranking purposes.

(3) Order of abundance based on analysis of only one sartple.

(4) . Order of abundance based on analysis of one unfiltered total sample.

r _ _ _ _ _ m__ _ _ . . , _ . _ _ - , , _ , _ _ _ _

estimated. Trenches 10 and 11 contain 1,765 mg carbon / liter and 1,228 mg carbon / liter respectively. Calculation shows that the t.u. In the dissolved organic material is greater by approximately a factor of 3 than the t.u. in the water for both trenches. The t.u. in the methane in trenches 10 and 11 were found to be greater by factors of 25 and 16 than in the trench water for the respective trenches (26 ) . Some of the dissolved organic material is lost in the lyophilization pro-cess which may account fcr the difference in tritium concen-tration (t.u.) in the methane and the dissolved organic material.

The higher tritium concentration in the dissolved organic material and the methane relative to the t.u. for the trench water indicates that the organic tritium is not in equilibrium with the trench vater. In comparing the methane and trench water it was observed that in the older north trenches ( l through 5) the t.u. were in good agreement. However, in the newer south trenches (8 through 14) the t.u. for the methane was one to three orders of magnitude higher than the t.u. for the trench water (26 ) . It appears that in these newer trenches there has not been sufficient time for the organic material to have exchanged tritium with the trench water to reach equilib-rium. This may be the result either of high initial concentra-tiens of tritium in the trench water, the result of rapid breaching of burial containers, or of an on-going process of breaching of containers and the slow release of relatively high concentratiors of tritium into the trench water.

Strontium-90 Strontium-90 ranMs as the second most abundant radionuclide in all north trenches and one gOfSrthe In the other trenches studied south trenches (trench 10).

ranks among the top four radionuclides. Values of 90Sr found in trenches 10 and 11 were average for the other trenches studied, leaving strontium-90 values in trench 4 still the highest of any trench studied.

This is consistent with the burial of 15,763 Ci of strontium-90 in trench 4 (22 ) . The actual quantities of strontium-90 buried in other trenches are not accurately known.

Plutonium The present study indicates that a sample collected from the trench 10 sump has the highest value of plutonimm-238 yet mea-sured in the trench water, surpassing by a small percentage the activity value measured in trench 8. This high con Ttra-tion in water collected from trench 10 is in basic agreement with the high number of curies buried there (15,000 Ci accord-ing to Kelleher and Michael (22 ) ) . The dissolved plutonium-239,

-24 0 activity for trench 10 is among the highest observed in 38

the trenches to date, along with water samples collected from well 8-1B and the sump in trench 5. Plutonium is not among the more abundant radioactive elements in the trenches studied, though in trenches 8 and 10 olutonium-238 values rank fifth and fourth in abundance, respectively.

Both plutonium-238 and plutonium-239,-240 are known to be easily adsorbed onto suspended particles (3 2 ) , and evidence

! for this was observed at West Valley. Of the eight samples that were analyzed for both suspended and dissolved fractions over tne course of this*itudy (1-sump, 2-lA, 4-sump, 5-3A, 8-1B, 9-new sump (2 swaples) , and 14-1A), one (14-1A) shows higher values for suspended than for dissolved plutonium-238 and four (1-sump, 8-1B, 9-new sump, and 14-1A) show higher va-lues for suspended plutonium-239, -240 than for dissolved p~uto-I nium-239,-240. Adsorption ultimately leads to depletion of plutonium dissolved in the water by adsorption onto objects and

( walls in the trenches and by the settling out of suspended

! material.

Possible evidence for this method of depletion was found over a period of eleven days, during pumping of trench 5. During this time, when turbulence could cause the stirring up of particulates, the concentration of plutonium-238 in water being pumped from the sump tripled, and the concentration of plutonium-2 39, -24 0 increased more than four times. Unfortu-nately, no data are available as to how much of this increase was related to increased suspended material, since the sample was analyzed as a whole water sample. This leaves open the possibility of several alternative explanations for the variations in plutonium described above. First, a concen-tration gradient may exist that was destroyed by the turbu-lence of pumping; second, waste containers over time may have been breached, causing the release of more plutonium and an increase in trench water values; and third, the earlier sam-ole may have suffered rapid oxidative precipitation prior to containment in the sampling bottle, since the sample collect-ion procedure was not anoxic. As for the first explanation, no evidence has yet been found for concentration gradients in the trenches; samples at different levels have revealed no significant difference. The second explanation, breaching of containers, is a definite possibility, though no direct evi-The third explanation, dence to support this has been found.

rapid oxidative precipitation,is supported by two lines of evidence: 1) in addition to plutonium, eleven other radio-nuclides of the eighteen analyzed showed an increase in acti-vity from the earlier to the later sample; and 2) of those eleven showing an increase, uranium-238, known for its capa-city to be readily adsorbed, showed one of the greatest in-creases. But because of the turbulence created by pumping, it is very probable that a significant portion of the increase in 39 2

activity was the result of increased suspended material.

Because of the turbulence created by the water sampling technique and because of adsorption and other compli-cating factors, measured concentrations of plutonium in trench water probably do not reflect the amount of plutonium re-leased into the water in any given trench. Though compari-sons of relative concentrations between trenches may be valid, the data should not be used as a measure of the amount of plutonium in each trench.

Cesium Cesium-134 values observed in water samples from 9 of the 10 trenches, when plotted against the time interval between buri-al of waste and trench water analysis, fall on a line of steadily decreasing activity as the time for decay increases (Figure 12). Because of the relatively short half-life of cesium-134 (2.062 years for the ground isomeric state *), this relationship between activity and age is expected. The con-clusions that can be drawn from this relationship, however, are severely limited by the large numbers of unknown factors that must be considered. The fact that the data point for trench 14 lies well off the curve may be the result of a num-ber of factors: 1) since trench 14 is the newest trench, this may reflect the integrity of the burial containers and the small amount of leaking of cesium-134 into the trench 14 water; 2) there may have been fewer curies of cesium-134 buried in 14 than in other trenches; 3) there may have been more dilution of trench water by rain water ** in trench 14 than in the other trenches studied; and 4) exchange and precipitation of cesium-134 may have been more extensive in trench 14 than in the other trenches studied. Any or all of these factors may have olayed a role in producing low cesium-134 activity in trench 14.

137 Cs, with its longer half-life (30.17 years), does not show a consistent trend with time. Concentrations observed in sam-ples from sumps in trenches 10 and 11 are similar to values found.in other trenches.

• All radionuclide half-life values are taken from Chart of the Nuclides, Twelfth Edition, Revised to April 1977 (45).

• • For more information on infiltration of rain water see

" Studies of Trench Gas at e Low-Level Radioactive Waste Burial Site, West Valley, New York," (2G).

40

l 12 -

-10 m -9 e

o R -8 -

E

-7

.C

-6 O

.9 e -

,o -5 m

-4 \; -

8 ii iig -3 g4

• \ 889 -

c o e

IO E * -

o -2

\

-l \ -

.x 3e__-_

_ ,_ ,2,i i . . '

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 I2 13 14 O I Ume Between Burial and Analysis (years)

Figure 12. Concentration of cesium-134 in the West Valley trenches versus the time interval between burial of waste and analysis of trench water. Numbers above data points are trench numbers.

41

In general, radio-cesium shows higher concentrations in ua-ter samples than most radionuclides in the trenches. Cesium-134 is the sixth most abundant radionuclide in trenches 5, 11, and 14, seventh in trench 8 and eighth in trench 10.

Cesium-137 is the third or fourth most abundant radionuclide in the north trenches (no data for trench 1), and between the 3 second (trench 12) and sixth (trench 10) most abundant radio-nuclide in the south trenches (no data for trench 13).

Iron Iron-55 activities observed in trenches 10 and 11 are approxi-mately average for the trenches as a whole. Because of the 2.7 year half-life, average activity in these two later (south) burial trenches indicates either that smaller amounts were initially buried in these trenches than in earlier trenches, or that the release of iron-55 from containers has been most rapid in trenches 10 and 11. A review of the burial records does not support the first explanation, therefore, the second appears most likely.

Cobalt Cobalt-60 values observed in trenches 10 and 11 are approxi-mately average for the trenches as a whole. In fact, cobalt-60 values range over only approximately two orders of magnitude in the 11 trenches studied. This is unexpected because of the very large range in quantities of cobalt-60 buried in the various trenches (from 34 Ci in trench 1 to 46,469 Ci in trench 5 according to Kelleher and Michael (22 ) ) . We would expect a correspondingly large range of activities,but not only is this large range not reflected in the concentra-tions observed, but the concentrations in general are lower than expected. One possible explanation is that cobalt-60 was buried in containers that, for the most part, are still intact, such as stainless steel or concrete casks. A second possible explanation is that manganese oxides present in the waste or surrounding soil have adsorbed much of the cobalt-60 in some trenches. Manganese oxides are known to play an important role in the adsorption of radionuclides, espe-cially cobalt-60 (28).

Nickel-63 Nickel-63 activity values in trenches 10 and 11 are approxi-mately average for the trenches as a whole. This is approxi-mately two orders of magnitude less than the highest value yet observed, in trench 8 (well 8-1B). Nickel-63 ranks con-sistently between 2 and 5 among radionuclides in all the trenches studied.

42

Carbon-14 i Carbon-14 (total) activity observed in samples from trench 10 is slightly above average for the trenches as a whole. Car-bon-14 activity in trench 11, however, is the highest yet observed in the trenches, by a factor of 4. Carbon-14 (total) ranks second or third among radionuclides in all south trenches studied. In the north trenches, in general carbon-14 values are much smaller than in the south trenches though isolated higher values hare been found. This relationship is in good agreement with the quantities of carbon-14 known to be buried in the trenches, though burial records are somewhat ambiguous (22). The ambiguity resultg form a burial record category consisting of a mixture of H and carbon-14 in an unknown ratio.

In the south trenches, where values for both organic and inorganic carbon-14 have been obtained (trenches 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14), organic carbon shows cassistently higher activity than inorganic carbon. The relationship between organic and inorganic carbon activity values is certainly much dependent on the action of microorganismo that are known to be active in these trenches (3). The action of micro-organisms may act to break down existing organo-radionuclide materials, or it may form new ones by the reaction of micro-bial metabolites with radionuclides. In either case, such action may have significant effect on the long-term storage, solubility, mobility, and migration of radionuclides from the site (28).

Iodine Iodine-129 is observed in very low concentrations in the trenches studied to date (1,2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, and 11) . In fact, the concentration of 1.25 E-07 14% pCi/ml observed in trench 11 is the highest value yet observed. However, the concentration of stable iodine in samples from trench 10 is extremely high, 17.2 mg/1, or more than an order of magnitude higher than the concentration in trench 11. Because stable iodine is a very difficult element to accurately assay, especially in samples from anoxic environments, two types of analysis were employed: a spectrophotometric method and a specific ion electrode method. The spectrophotometric method was repeated once. These methods are briefly described in Appendix C.

There are several potent't) c:irces i. the stable iodine in trench 10. The most p u f? tource is from activated char-coal filtering systems, whit : ere quite wide-spread in use in the nuclear industry. Charcoa). impregnated with potassium iodide (KI) is used for extraction sf radio-iodine from spent 43

fuel rods ( 18) . Similar methods are used for laboratory extractions in hospitals, chemical companies and various research institutions. An attempt was made to identify speci-fic sources of stable iodine in trench 10 by reviewing the burial inventory records. Because trench 10 is divided into two sections by a barrier of unknown height or size,* from the tandpoint of liquid waste, it is actually two separate trencues. For this reason only the burial records for the north end of the trench were reviewed. They reveal several potential sources of stable iodine. A pharmaceutical company, a manufacturer of various nuclear reactor-related equipment, and a large university were all major sources of iodine-131/-135 in trench 10. Their burial shipments may also have contained the large quantities of stable iodine necessary to result in a concentration of 17.2 mg/1.

Uranium Uranium is observed in the trenches in very low concentra-tions. Activity values for uranium-234, uranium-235, and uranium-238 in trenches 10 and 11 are consistent with the low values for the trenches in general. As with plutonium, however, these low values may be caused by adsorption of uranium by suspended material. For further discussion see the section on plutonium above.

Americium-241 The americium-241 values in all of the trenches studied (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14) are near or below detection limits. To date, attempts to lowsr detection limits for dis-solved water from trench 10 have been unsuccessful. The high concentration of plutonium-238 in the trench 10 sample appears to be constructively interfering with the americium-241 ana-lysis ( 2 3) . Further work is being done by the RSL to cir-cumvent this problem.

Thorium-232 Thorium-232 activity values in all the trenches studied (1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14) are below detection limits with the exception of one of two values in trench 9, new sump (4.5 E-07 40% pCi/ml). Values in trenches 10 and 11 illustrate these low values (Table 5).

• sump Persistent differences in water levels between the north and the south sump confirm this.

44

Sodium-22 Both trenches 10 and 11 show the highest sodium-22 activity j yet measured in the south trenches. Because of the short half-life of sodium-22 (2.601 years) and because the youngest north trench was completed early in 1968, no north trenches have been analyzed for sodium-22. ,

Manganese-54 All trenches analyzed for manganese-54 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10) show results below detection limits with one exception. The exception is one value for suspended material in the trench 5 42% p Ci/ml).

sump, collected during pumpout in 1975 (12 E-08 These results are consistent with the relatively short half-life of manganese-54 (313 days).

Ruthenium-106 All trenches analyzed for dissolved ruthenium-106 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10) show values below detection limits, with the exception of one well in trench 5 ,(5-3A) that shows a value of 6 E-06187% u Ci/ml. These results are consistent with the relatively short half-life of ruthenium-106 (368 days).

Potassium-40 All trenches analyzed for potassium-40 (2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14) show values below detection limits.

Total Beta / Total Alpha The methods used for Total 6 and a analyses are adequate only for screening purposes. Samples are screened so that expensive specific analyses are performed only on samples that may produce results above detection limits. Themay effect of uneven distri-lead to inaccuracies bution of the sample on a planchet in the results, and loss of volatile radionuclides such us radiciodine, tritium, carbon-14, and the difficulty in radio-metric standardization for a mixture of unknown emitters causes problems with interpretation of results. One such problem is found in trench 10. Concentrations of plutonium-238, an alpha emitter, appear to be twice the total alpha concentration. A similar phenomenon was observed in trench 8 in our studies and in studies by Columbo and Weiss (1 ). One possible explanation offered by Columbo and Weiss is that the chemical composition of the water prevents the preparation by evaporation of a uniform,and reproducible counting specimen. For example, in the presence of

> 500 mg/l barium, plutonium is preferentially scavenged with the first precipitate that forms upon drying a sample in a planchet 45 l

This could result in a non-uniform plutonium-238 distribution resulting in significant self-adsorption of some beta emissions and especially the alpha emissions in the counting sample. Con-cent rations of barium in the north trenches reach 300 mg/1 (12) so .at values of.500 mg/l would not be unreasonable. Diffi-cul ics in interpretation of results from earlier studies are also evident with total 8 values in relation to strontium-90 and carbon-14 (total). And in the present study carbon-14 in trench 11 appears to be 2.5 times the total 8 activity. Such a high value is not unexpected and is considered a limitation of the method of analysis (Appendix ~C). Therefore, when available only the specific analyses should be used, and the total a and 8 values should be viewed as approximations only.

7.6 Future Studies A problem encountered in the analysis of trerch water involved plutonium-238. High concentrations of plutonium-238 in trench water appear to constructively interfere with the analysis of americium-241 (23). This problem has been encountered in trench 10 and may be affecting values of americium-241 in other trenches as well. The effects of plutonium-238 on americium-241 analyses should be investigated thoroughly before any conclu-sions are based on the americium-241 data obtained to date.

Because of the very high value of stable iodine observed in trench 11, further analyses should be done to determine the val-ues in other trenches. Such high values may have a strong effect on the adsorption of radiciodine by trench walls and waste containeis.

46

l l

l l

8.0 GEO1ECHNICAL ANALYSIS OP RESEARCH TRENCH 1".J TRENCH

< CAP SOILS 8.1 Introduction Geotechnical evaluation of the soils at the low-level radio-active waste burial (LLRWB) site was undertaken by Vernon Hoffman, P.E., as part of a comprehensive, continuing geologic and hydrologic study of.the West Valley site that is being conducted by the New York State Geological Survey (NYSGS).

Samples of the trench cap material at the LLRWB site and the soils at Research Trench III were collected and analyzed in August, 1979. Previous sub-surface investigations (5,6,7) for the Western New York Nuclear Service Center discuss the design of the facility and the physical characteristics of the soil. Results of soil tests performed in 1977 ( 17) are-compared to the most-recently obtained test results.

The recently studied research trench was the last of three j research trenches excavated in the vicinity of the LLRWB trenches. (See Site Plan, Figure 1). Descriptions of Re-l search Trenches I and II may be found in a previous report to the USEPA (9),

i 8.2 Purpose of Study 4

The data presented here represent a geotechnical analysis of I

soil conditions encountered in a research trench excavated j in undisturbed till, approximately 152 m (500 ft.) east of the LLRWB trenches. The trench had filled with surface wacer since completion of the earlier soil investigation i Paere in 1977 ( 17) . The current investigation was an attempt to recreate as nearly as possible the moisture conditions of flooded burial trenches, specifically trenches 4 and 5 that filled to overflowing in March, 1975(11). The research trench was left open after the 1977 studies and was allowed to fill with rain water.

.! The current investigation involved dewatering the research trench to gain access for sampling and making measurements.

This study was conducted to determine what changes had occurred in the soil conditions at Research Trench III since the excavation and since the initial soil investigations l were conducted. The basic soil engineering properties were determined in the previous investigations; the present study focused on any changes'in the soils, and changes in the shape of the trench that might have occurred during the interval of flooding.

47 l

1

< l

_ _ _ , _ __ , _ , .I

Trench cap soils, that consisted of disturbed, compacted till, both weathered and unweathered,were collected in August,1979, and in November, 1979. These samples were tested for geotech-nical properties as well as the presence of radionuclides.

The significance of the radionuclide data is reported in section 9.0 of this report.

8.3 Method of Study The research trench studied was excavated in July, 1977, in a manner similar to that of the trenches at the actual waste burial grounds. Research Trench III was originally approx-imately 39m (130 ft.) long, 7.9m (26 ft.) deep, and 6.lm (20 ft.) wide at the bottom (Figure 13 ) . A backhoe pit was extended into a portion of the bottom for a total depth below land surface of about 12.5m (41 ft.). The trench was allowed to collect surface water. It filled to land surface until August 6, 1979. At that time, under the direction of person-nel of the NYSGS, Benz Construction Co., Inc., of West Valley, N.Y., began pumping water from the trench.

The pumping was completed on August 10, 1979. The final drawdown level was approximately 6.3m (20.6 ft.) below land surface.

On August 14, 1979, personnel of the NYSGS and Vernon C.

Hoffman, P.E.,

entered the dewatered trench to take soil samples from the sides and bottom, to make measurements of the shape of the trench, and to observe the conditions of the trench. Seven soil samples were recovered from the trench using sampler.

a hand-driven, two-inch diameter, thin-wall, tube Descriptions of the sampling locations and the orientation of the samples (horizontal or vertical) are given in Appendix D of this report.

On the same day five similar tube samples were taken from the trench cap materials in the LLRWB area. Five additional tube samples were collected in November, 1979 by personnel of the NYSGS. The locations of the trench cap sampling points are indicated in Figure 14.

The thin-wall tubes were sealed with rubber caps in the field to prevent moisture loss and shipped to the laboratory of Soil and Material Testing, Inc. The following tests were conducted on the samples:

Unit Weight Unconfined Compressive Strength Calibrated Strength)

Penetrometer (to estimate the Unconfined Atterberg Limits Shrinkage Limits Grain-size Distribution Moisture Content 48

l

+

nRAMP backhoe pit

] x J e I L

@' \

I I i / ..

l L L MUD S{

E E yS E l V V V E

39*

E E r~-

L L RAFT L 2 2

] 1 qa)' ; @

l

_X _ -- X' l 9__ '

I l

RAMP y_

L_ J K 23m M

/

LEVELi A ' X' LEVEL 2 f A \

E 4 6.27 t o mu d 7.8 7m - D F

_ _ ( surfoce 27.5* angte x_____

Figure 13. Sketch map and cross section approximately to j scale of Research Trench III after pumping in  !

August 1979. Area of mud is where soil above l its liquid limit has ponded. Mud surface is  !

depth to which pumping was done. Dark areas in cross section are areas of disturbed soil.

"S" designates areas of slumping prior to filling with rain water. Circled numbers are l sampling locations. .

l 49

/ 4 273o0 ! , 3[oo x, f .-

[,,./  ;

[A

'M** q

- .x ... .. ~ x . 7- '_ _

...)

....oo.

s s.,

((f

/ K  !!.l

~

UN

---

i .

N. .

s .

• • • • • '5'  :

NRC-LICENSED 1 li s.

BURIAL AREA 1:)

'.{ [m

_______ _ _ _ _ _ _ u~ w . ,

i

/

g ... 18'38*5o'

~

S 3

_,.__4__

1

_j. _ .

c____ _ _ _ _ _ _

Driven well point l I I  :-

Trench sump I g l Fence I

l a

• I l

[g LJ Hard stand l I i Trench margin I .

l r-- ' Lagoon I

. I Yslij Filled lagoon l . -

'~ i l

Drainage . . .. . l I -

i ..

l 1 3 . . . . o-

' l '

g

'4 21 .". 2 2. .*_ -

u_____ _____;

Map location ~

o0@,

Fr i \ ,,,

\ '- ,,.3 3o. ,

New York State Geological Survey 7/79 Figure 14 Location map of trench cap samples collected in 1979. Large dots indicate sampling locations, 50

A summary of the results of tests made on each sample is shown in Table 7, " Summary of Laboratory Test Results".*

8.4 Discussion 8.4.1 Soil Description Soil sample identification has been determined by means of visual classification by the soil engineer, and by soil index or classification tests that include Atterberg limits and grain-size distribution.

All of the soil samples removed from the trench have similar descriptions, based upon texture and plasticity. The soils are classified as CL and ML, or borderline cases of these categories, under the Unified Soil Classification System (described in Appendix E). Within the Burmeister System, they would generally be classified as silt and clay or clay and silt with trace sand and a trace of gravel. The com-pacted trench cap soils are similar except that they have higher perccatages of sand and gravel. Commonly, the trench cap samples have "a little or trace sand and gravel".

The clay soils are generally very stiff in weathered zones and are fractured to depths of up to 4.6m (15 ft.). The presence of fractures, that sometimes are filled with silt or fine sand particles, may result in the shear strength of the soil being substantially less than that of unfractured portions of the soil.

8.4.2 Research Trench Test Results The test results from the current investigation in undisturbed till have been compared to the test results obtained during the 1977 investigation. A summary of the average values at various depths, and overall averages for both sets of results have been tabulated in Table 8. The depth ranges indicated correspond to the weathered and desiccated soils (shallow),

the partially weathered soils (medium), and the r'elatively unweathered soils at greater depths (deep).

• Individual test data sheets, stress-strain plots, and graphs of grain-size distribution will be included in a future, more detailed report of this work (NUREG/CR-1566).

51

TABLE 7 Sumnary of Laboratory Test Results on Samples Collected at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center. Trench cap soils are frun the Im-level Waste Burial Trenches.

• 1 - a a C

" Ba e -

R $

38 _

5I *

~

- o a

8%

.S g _8 e g ."

.j _ # 2

$ 3 u

3 g a Be # 39 2

l. l gf Bj S $ $u E 03

$ kat lf ?8 8 E EE i bb bl Soils Fran Research Trench III (August,1979):

1 11 13-17 17.4 30 24 16.1 115.2 2.7 3.8 2 4H** 0-4 15.5 30 30 16.3 117.5 5.2 3A 4.5-5.0 16 0-4 20.6 30 20 18.9 106.0 2.1 2.0 3B 16 16-20 20.7 32 21 18.6 107.0 2.0 4 14 0-4 18.5 32 22 12.2 112.7 2.3 3.5-1.8 5 12 0-4 17.6 29 21 19.4 115.1 6A 3.4 2.5 18H -4 22.1 41 28 19.9 105.6 1.9 2.0 6B 18H 11 -15 23.4 34 4 16.9 104.4 1.7 1.8 Trench Cap Soils (Atgust, 1979):

7 0 14-18 12.7 30 21 16.3 8 0 9-13 12.5 32 23 18.9 9 0 6-9 12.5 29 19 17.0 10 0 11-15 10.8 31 23 16.4 11 0 18-21 14.1 32 23 17.4 Trench Cap Soils (November,1979):

12A 0 6-10 22.8 29 23 17.6 107.7 0.8 1.0 12B 0 12-16 30.3 31 20 15.4 118.3 4.4 2.5-4.5 13A 0 3-7h 30.3 30 26 20.8 80.6 0.4 0.5-0.8 138 0 13 -17 29.8 30 23 23.1 108.9 5.3 1.5-3.2 14A 0 4-8 28.9 29 19 17.9 106.6 0.6 0.4-1.0 14B 0 11-15 29.4 30 18 17.4 107.0 1.5 1.8-3.8 15A 0 3-7 30.0 30 25 20.1 107.2 15B 0.7 1.0-1.8 0 11-15 16.9 16.8 116.6 2.3 2.2-3.8 16A 0 3-7 36.7 37 28 22.9 86.1 0.3 0.8 16B 0 8 -12 30.3 31 20 17.6 110.0 1.4 1.5-2.8

• Depth below original ground. All samples taken 0 - 2 ft. frun existing grade.

• • Samples are vertical unless indicated as horizontal (H) .

52

TABLE 8 Ccrparison of Test Results,* 1977 and 1979 Investigations.

^

a E d

a a &a n jv

.o

- o-

.n "

c- g_ c@_

sa a

sa .R

-c $"g 8.d .t"d .- $s~53 85 __

8 28 33 MR 83 .$E Sw-1979 Shallow 4 15. 5*

• 30** 21** 16*

• 117.5** 5. 2*

• Medium l') . 0 31 22 17 111.2 2.5 Deep 18 22.8 38 16 18 105.0 1.8 Average -

19.5 32 20 17 110.4 2.6 1977 Shallow 4,8 15.2 30** 19** 13*

• 115.7 --

Mxlium 12,16 17.4 30 18 13 112.8 5.4 Deep 20 20.0 31** 19** 11*

• 109.5 --

Greater than 20' 20.1 32 20 11 110.6 2.8 Average -

18.5 31 19 12 111.9 3.9

• 1<esults given are average values at each depth range.

• • 0ne Sample.

l 1

53

The test results obtained during the two investigations are very close to each other, particularly considering the rela-tively small number of measurements or test results that were involved in the averages.

The results suggest some increase in moisture content and a decrease in strength and unit weight during the two-year i interval. This indicates a slight swelling of the soi).

Given the reduction in confining pressure, and water avail-able to maintain a saturated condition, this is expected.

Based on the relatively small changes in moistuim content, unit weight, and strength, it appears that the amount of swell was small. This waa also indicated by the swell test-ing in the 1977 investigation.

The Atterberg limit results indicate that the changes in plasticity, if any, are not significant within the precision of the sampling and testing methods. The shrinkage limits indicate a significant change in test results. This change appears to be systematic and occurring at all depths. Al-though it is possible that the soils have undergone some changes, it is more likely that there was a difference in testing procedure. The shrinkage limit test is sensitive to operator differences. There is also some fle:'.ibility in the initial noisture content for testing allowed under the ASTM specification,'hich could have some effects on the results.

It is important to realize that the soils sampled during the recent investigation were removed I' rom within 0.6 m (2 ft.)

of the existing sides and bottom of the research trench. In this surface zone the confining pressure has been reduced to low values and there has been an ample aupply of water to keep the surface soils saturated. However, soils further from the faces of the slopes (which were not sampled in the current investigation) would probably tend to exhibit moist-ure contents, unit weights, and strengths closer to those measured in 1977. The confining pressures deeper in the slope have not decreased as much as at the surface, and the swell that has occurred is probably small compared to the swell experienced by the surface soils.

3.4.3 Trench Cap Soil Test Results No detailed description or analysis of the trench cap soils is included here beyond the soil descriptions given in Table

7. In general, the significant properties are the low perme-abilities and the volume changes sufficient to allow the soils to crack upon drying.

The average liquidity index of trench cap soils that were col-54

i lected during August was -1.05*; the average liquidity This index of trench cap samples collected in November was 0.87.

j difference reflects a large increase in the average water con-tent from 12.5 to 31.7 percent. No change in average liquid

[

limit' and only minor increase in average plastic limit were observed. In one sample (13 A in Table 7) the actual water content exceeded the liquid limit by 0.3 percent, however, this may be accounted for by sampling and testing inaccuracies.

The maximum compressive strength of trench cap samples col-lected in November (following a period of precipitation) in-creased significantly with depth.

8.4.4 Soil Strengths The condition of the sides and bottom of the trench after de-watering indicated that, although the overall side slopes remained stable, considerable surface sloughing of the soils occurred. Some of it may have occurred during or immediately after the dewatering. Runoff, wave action, and frost action caused some surface erosion near the top of the trench. The trench partially filled with eroded and sloughed soil, that was covered by a low-viscosity soil slurry for a total com-bined height of 1.5 m (5 f t.) above the original trench bot-tom. The backhoe trench below the trench bottom was entirely filled. The sides of the trench above this soft soil fill remained stable, for the most part, except for portions of the level-2 benches, whose slopes sloughed to the bottom. It appears that this probably happened at the time of dewatering.

Portions of the level-2 benches that were greater than approx-imately L.2 m (4 ft.) above the ramp failed. Elevations of the slopes described are shown in Figure 13.

,c ame estimates of the strength of the soils in the slopes can be made from observations of the conditions of the trench after dewatering. Slope stability charts (43) were used. This type of chart solution is adequate for the rough estimates of strength required for this study.

A minimum strength for the greater slope (A to F in' Figure 13) can be estimated, since the slope remained stable under sud-den drawdown conditions. This is done using standard tables by Taylor (43). The minimum developed cohesion is approxi-mately 18.9 kN/m 2 (394 psf), assuming a slope angle of 27.5 and a total (moist)

-degrees, a slope height gf(132 6.0 pcf).

m (20.6 ft.)the For greater slope uni; weight of 2115 kg/m

• Liquidity Index, or water plasticity ratio, relates the water content of a soil to the liquid and plastic limits.

Liquidity Index = Water Content -

Plastic Limit Liquid Limit -

Plastic Limit 55 w

(A to F) the cohesion at failure is most probably significantly greater than this minimum strength, but probably does not approach the values obtained by unconfined compression tests.

This is because of the formati.on of tension cracks at the top ,

of the slopes and some reduction in strength at the toe due to l swelling. l The maximum strength of these soils can be estimated from fail-ure data. Portions of the bench at level-2 ' (E to F) , whose heights above the trench bottom exceeded 1.2 m (4 ft.) failed.

It is believed that failures occurred both before and after drawdown. One value can be estimated for fail: re under sub-merged conditions, and a slightly higher value can be estimated for failure under sudden drawdown conditions, which cause higher stress levels in the soil. The developed cohesion at failure for sudden drawdown would be approximately 4.79 kN/m2, assuming a slope angle of 600 and a unit wieght of 2115 kg/m3 (132 pcf) .

The kg/m game slope data and a bouyant unit wieght of about 1122 (70 pcf) cohesion mate developed forthesubmerged'congitionyieldanapproxi-of 2.54 kN/m (53 psf). These values correspond to soil strengths reduced by soil cracking, with swelling and reduction of confining pressure to very low values.

Given enough time, more sloughing of the sides of the trench would occur. Each failure mass would reduce the confining pressure on the remaining soil and probably expose it to a greater water supply, promoting swelling and softening of the soil. The rate of such progressive failure would tend to de-crease as the height and angle of the slope lessened.

The estimated developed cohesion values suggested above for the shallow failures indicate the substantial difference be-tween the unconfined compressive strength test results and those calculated from stability conditions. The unconfined compressive strength tests and calibrated penetrometer tests tend to indicate the strengths of the.uneracked (higher strength) portions of the clays. In the field, the strengths of the clays are limited by the presence of fractures and, at some places, softened soils.

8.4.5 Stability of Waste-filled Trench The stability conditions for a burial trench, were it fil.?.ed with waste material, would vary widely depending on the strength and compressibility of the waste material. If the waste material were of very low strength, the stability con-ditions would approach those of the water-filled trench or of an empty trench.

If the trench fill were of high strength and low compress-ibility, the sides of the '.rench would be stable and no sloughing of the sides would occur.

The actual conditions in 56

~ , , . .-

)

I t

l the burial trenches probably fall-between these extremes. A useful analysis of the likely service conditions would not be possible without knowing at least the approximate mechanical properties of the fill material. It can be'seen that non-compacted wastes could consolidate enough to remove support from.the side slopes of the trench, thus allowing shear fail-ure to occur. It is safe to' assume in the long term'that all but the most' resistant trench fill containers - for example, the few concrete casks that are buried - wil! eventually de-grade, allowing sloughing to occur.

i 57

9.0 RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSES OF TRENCH CAP SOILS I

9.1 Introduction The LLRWB area consists of 12 burial. trenches, each roughly 1

180 m long, 11 m wide, and 6 m deep. The trenches were exca-vated in a thick,. clay-silt till of low permeability (hydraulic gradient is approximately .'.0-8 cm/s) and relatively high ion-exchange capacity. As the trenches were filled, the waste was covered with a .'+ to 5 m cap of compacted, weathered and unweath-ered till.

4 In 1978 trenches 1 through 5 were recapped in order to retard infiltration of precipitation into the trenches. The topsoil

j. was removed, stockpiled, and approximately 1 to 3 m additional cover (excavated from a borrow pit in the vicinity of the Research Trenches)'was replaced over the trenches.

9.2 Purpose of-Study Five trench cap samples were collected from the south trenches of the LLRWB site in August, 1979, and five samples were col-lected from the north trenches in November, 1979 (Figure 14).

i Trench cap samples were collected and analyzed for total alpha,

' total beta, and tritium in order to determine the presence and magnitude of surface concentrations of radionuclides, and to

' evaluate the geologic and meteorologic parameters that affect activity distribution. In addition, geotechnical aspects of the trench cap soils (discussed in Section 8.4 of this report) were evaluated in conjunction with geotechnical studies of in-~

situ till samples collected from a nearby research trench.

9.3 Method of Study Hand-driven 2-inch diameter, thin-wall Shelby tubes were used for sample collection. The sample tubes were driven to a depth of approximately 50 to 60 cm, extracted, and the tubes sealed at both ends with rubber caps. The sealed samples were shipped to Soil and Material Testing, Inc., to be analyzed for various geotechnical properties.* Portions of the soil cores were re-moved for analyses for tritium, total alpha, and total beta '_

activity.

.4 Discussion Total' Alpha and Total Beta Total alpha and total beta activity of the trench cap soils

• A detailed description of the tests performed is included in

t. Section P.0 of this reporc.

58

l l

l (Table 9) did not exceed the estimated natural background acti-

> vity of the burial till. Beta activity did not vary system-atically with depth or with sample collection location (i.e.,

north vs. south burial trenches).

Tritium Concentrations of tritium in trench cap samples were found to be at approximate background levels at the surface and r

above background at depth (20 to 50 cm) * . Most samples exhibited at least one order of magnitude increase of tritium activity at depth relative to surface activity (Figure 15).

This distribution of tritium may be partially attributed to sur-face contaminants (stack effluent deposition,* burial operation spillc) transported downward through the trench caps by per-colating precipitation. Earlier studies found a similar in-crease in values of tritium from the .urface down in holes not directly on the trench cap (38).

There may, however, be additional sources of tritium. The north trenches were recapped in 1978 in order to retard infil-tration of precipitation into the trenches. Prior to actual recapping, approximately 20 cm of topsoil was removed from the north trench caps, stockpiled, and later compacted over the new trench caps. While any tritium from prior contamin-ation remaining in the topsoil could percolate into the new tcench cap, it is also reasonable to expect that tritium at such shallow depths in the soil would be rapidly diluted by precipitation and dissipated by transpiration. Its continued presence near the surface may3 indicate upward migration of tritium (probably as 3HH and HCH3)** by dif fusion through trench cap fractures, and interstices. It has been shown that many soils, when " undersaturated," develop a network of large soil pores o'r channels which form a " subterranean arterial system for ra-pidly distributing free surface water to locations within the soil mass," and, presumably, fluids and gases migrating later-ally and vertically through the trench caps. Theseanimal large ac-pores are produced by clay shrinkage, ice lenses, tivity, and other causes (15). Subsequent exchange of tritium with stable hydrogen and, to a lesser extent, hydroxyls, in the trench cap clays and organic matter (26) could serve to

" trap" tritium within the trench cap.

Formation of fractures also may account for some of the ac-tivity in samples collected from the south trenches. This explanation is especially plausible for trench 12, where tritium concentrations are an order of magnitude higher than

• 0n-site values of tritium neasured in 1979 by NFS vary from 600-1200 pCi/ liter.

• • For more detailed information on studies of trench gas see Matuszek, and others (26).

59 l

l i

_ __ _ . _ . . . _ _ . _ . . - . , ~ . _ _ - __. . . _ . _ . . . . - . . _ . . _ . = . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . . _ . _ _ . _ . - _ _ _ . _ _ . _ _ _m . . _ .

i TABLE 9. Radiochemical Analysis of Trench Cap Soils Approximate .

, Depth Below Tritium Totala Total 6 Trench ' Land Surface (cm) (pCi/1) (pCi/g) (pCi/g) l NORTH. TRENCHES

-5 m S of 3 0-6.4 3,000+7% 14+87% -25+36%

5 m S of 3 38.1-45.7 6,60075% d7 24736%

4 5. septum. 0-7.6 750T19% ---

-34T23%

4- 5 septum 40.0-41.9 13,800[4% ---

29{25%

5 0-7.6 4,700+6% ---

31+26%

5 45.1-48.3 98,000T3% ---

30T28%

- 4N 0-7.6 620T24% ---

20T35%

4N 37.5-43.5 32,300T3% ---

29T28%

4S 0-7.6 3,80076% ---

16744%

m .4S 38.1-41.9 170,000T3% --

16T47%

o 2 - 3_ septum 0-7.6 1,410T12%

24T33%

2 - 3 septum 30.8-35.9 46,600{3% ---

29{29% <

SOUTH TRENCHES i 14 26.7-35.6 6,700+5% 14+87%

12 27+36%

33.0-40.6 149,000T3% 24T60% 22T37%

9 30.5-38.1 28,800T3% 22T63% 25T35%

11 20.3-27.9 46,000{3%

14{87% '30{37%

'I

• Refer to Figure 12 for sample collection locations. *

• • Calculated natural alpha activity of burial till is s18 pCi/g.

• • • Calculated natural beta activity of burial till is N32 pCi/g.

4 s

~

\

, , i l

(#) () 4H)q ,

10 .0. .

15.0 -

2Qo -

7 i

1 E 25.0 _

o

- T 1 1

3 0.0 - I T

F k I I T

& g W 35.0 -

1 J'

T l'-

I 400- e5 (p .ld)

O 2/s 4D 93 V9 -

- 45.0.

94N Y ll

{ .

04s A 12 50.0 -

O45 / A 14 55.0 -

3 s 10 te ' i io 60.0 t I TRITIUM ( p Ci/l)

Figure 15. Tritiun concentrations in trench cap soil sanples collected frun alata trenches 3,4, 5, 9, 11, 12, and 14, and from septa between trenches 2 and 3, and between 4 and 5.

61 i

l l

tritium concentrations in other south trench cap samples.

Prudic -(35) reports that upward-extending fractures may form at the base of the trench cover, as a result of decomposition and settling of buried wastes. One settlement feature observed on trench 12 during April, 1979,'approximately 1 m square and 1 m deep after settlement, may have formed in this manner, allowing. tritiated gases to migrate through the fracture net-

, work and exchange with stable hydrogen in the trench cap.

I i 9.5 Recommendations The trench caps may serve as a medium for migration of tritiated gases and their exchange with stable fluids. Continued analysis of trench cap samples should be undertaken to furthr.r define the magnitude, mechanism, and extent of migration of tritium at shallow depths within the trench caps. In addition, if as spec-ulated, upward migration of tritiated gases and water is occurr-ing, maximum tritium concentrations would be expected at the bases of the trench covers. Trench cap samples collected in the future must encompass the entire thickness of the caps (1 to 5 m) to verify existence of a concentration gr,adient.

In conjunction with the above recommendation, parallel studies i of soil and trench gases would identify some of the nuclides

available for diffusion through, or retention in, the trench s

caps. Earlier studies suggest that 3 contained in the trench caps, and that HH3HCHmay exchange with gater 3, 14CH4 , and- CO2 undergo " substantial aerobic decomposition in the trench caps" (26). . Continued studies of the efficiency of the trench caps in retaining radionuclides should include an evaluation of these equilibration processes and rates. In addition, quanti-tative effects of trench cap fractures upon gas flux remain to be defined.

2 62

~ . . . _ _

i i

10.0 ANALY. SIS OF SUB-TRENCH CORE DATA l

Vertical infiltration of precipitation through the trench caps and into the trenches

• places water in direct contact with the solid low-level radioactive waste. Various radio-nuclides are mobilized, either by being adsorbed on suspen-ded matter or dissolved in the water. The purpose of this l

study was to' develop and implement a technique to extract

cores from beneath the waste burial trenches, and, through j

radiochemical analyses of these cores, measure the migration of radionuclides away from the burial area. On-site ground-l water studies ** had shown that the primary component of groundwater movement is vertically downward. It was decided to attempt to extract corcs from beneath the trenches in-c

' order to attempt to measure the migration of radionuclides in j the trench water through the sub-trench earth materials.

! This study was begun under Contract No. 68-01-3543 with the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and is being continued under the pr.esent contract with the USNRC.

Some of the data shown in graphs in this section are from the earlier USEPA study (1977-78) as well as the present USNRC study (1979-80). The USEPA data were analyzed in 1977-78 and are listed in the report " Sampling, Analysis, and Study of Migration of Trench Water from a low-Level Solid Radioactive Waste Burial Ground at West Valley, New York" (12 ) . The USNRC data were analyzed under the present study in 1979-80, and-are listed in Appendix F.

4 i

i

• For more detailed information, see " Geologic Study of the Burial Medium at a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Burial Site at West Valley, New York," a report by the NYSGS to the USEPA to be published in 1980 by the USEPA (12 ) .

• • For more detailed information on groundwater conditions see the USGS report by D.E. Prudic and A.D. Randall, " Groundwater Hydrology and Subsurface Migration of Radioisotopes at'a Low-Level Solid Radioactive Waste Burial Disposal Site" (38).

'See also, " Study of Groundwater Flow at a Low-Level. Radio-active Waste Burial Site, West Valley, New York," a report by the NYSGS.to the USEPA to be published in 1980 by the USEPA (13).

63 i

10.1 Radiochemical Analysis of Cores A preliminary analysis of some of the cores for tritium and strontium-90 was made in the field. The cores were then transported to the N.Y. State Health Department's Radio-logical Sciences Laboratory in Albany for detailed analysis.

These detailed analyses are listed in Appendix F. Table 10 relates these depths to estimated depth below the trench bottom. Concentrations of selected radionuclides in relation to depth below land surface are shown in the graphs in Figures 16-24. The error terms ("plus or minus values")

give the 2e counting uncertainty in percent. The error varies considerably because of 1) variations in analytical tech-niques from radionuclide to radionuclide, 2) variations in the size of the sample analyzed, and 3) variations in the concentration of the analyzed radionuclide within a sample.

"Less-than" values are given where the error term exceeded 100 percent of the measured value. These limits vary with the radionuclide and also with the sige of the sample. Tech-niques of radiochemical analysis for HHO and various other radionuclides are described in Appendix C.

10.2 Evaluation of Coring Technique

• The drilling technique used at West Valley to produce cores for evaluation of radionuclide migration posed two problems:

1) how to avoid impenetrable objects within the refuse, and

2) how to determine when the botton of the trench had been reached. Both are discussed below. Otherwise, the tech-nique worked smoothly. The drive points unscrewed easily and showed little distortion after penetrating resistant objects that required as many as 370 blows /0.3 meter. Core recovery was very good (75 to 90 percent) . Commonly 2 to 9 centi-meters of cuttings remained in the hole after cleanout, but were not difficult to detect and remove from the top of the subsequent core. (Small amounts of cuttings result from the cleanout spoon not always retaining materials below the basket; larger amounts, recovered below the depth reached by the previous core, suggest that the cleanout spoon sometimes pushed cuttings ahead into the plastic till; errors in measuring hole depth or drillrod length are also possible.)

No significant contamination of cores due to drilling was detected, as explained in a later section of this report.

• Much of the information in sections 10.2 and 10.3 is from Prudic, " Core Sampling Beneath Low-Level Radioactive-Waste Trenches, West Valley, New York," (3 6 ) .

64

.- - ... . _ _ . . . - - - ~ - .

~

h A total of 10 pipes was driven into the burial trenches at West Valley. Of these, 3 pipes met refusal on hard objects within the trenches, 2 penetrated to the trench floor but were deflected by hard objects and bent sufficiently to pre-vent extraction of the point;-and 5 were used as planned to collect cores. All 5 successful holes were driven in areas where the approximate locations of buried material and con-tainer-types had been recorded by.the burial-ground operator; hole sites were selected to avoid the recorded position of concrete casks.and large metal objects.

Inquiry has thus far failed to disclose any geophysical tech-nique capable of detecting concrete objects a meter or so in i

diameter beneath 4 to 8 meters of till and refuse.

10.3 Locating Trench Floor An estimate of trench-floor depth. accurate to within about

0.3 meter is required to avoid removing the point above the l trench floor (in which case contaminated trench water would j .probably enter the pipe) or a meter or more below the trench

! floor (in which case no cores would be obtained from the depth

! interval expected to encompass migration of isotopes other than tritium). The same or better accuracy is needed for interpretation of radiochemical analyses; if most isotopes have migrated a meter or less in 10 years through the till beneath the trenches, as anticipated, exact knowledge of the j starting point is critical to rate calculations.

! The field supervisor's decision to stop driving pipe and j

,~

begin coring was based on three lines of evidence indicative of trench-floor depth:

1) Historical: reported design of trench depth and slope, altitude of pre-trench land surface in nearby test holes, records of a few well points driven to sample trench water.

> Use of these criteria is discussed by Prudic (34).

1

2) Blows required to drive casing: unusually resistant layers (upwards of 25 blows with essentially no progreas) or very l

soft _ material-(less than 50 blows per 0.3 m) were generally

-inferred.to reflect refuse. Steady progress with gradually increasing blow counts was expected to characterize undis-turbed. materi- below the. trench-floor. However, this circumstance did not occur at some locations; at these loca-tionssthe trench floor could not confidently be identified after only 0.3 meter penetration; neither did the magnitude of blow counts nor the " feel" of the driving process in I undisturbed material-prove to be distinctive.

I^

4

'65

, - .__ _i

3) Geophysical: gamma logs in each hole demonstrated that gamma radiation from the subtrench till was comparable to that from the trench cover ~(50-100 counts per second) and much less than generally recorded from the refuse. However, because the detector " sees" and averages radiatien somewhat above and be-low its actual position, and could not be lowered within 0.4 meter of the end of the pipe before the point was extracted, the transition from relatively.high to background radiation could not be completely defined until the pipe had already pen-etrated more than 0.4 meter into undisturbed material. There-fore, while gamma logs run before removing the point were help-ful in showing whether the pipe had penetrated beyond relatively radioactive waste, often they did not distinguish whether mate-rial opposite the bottom of the pipe was at background or merely close to it.

10.4 Radionuclidc Migration Table 10 relates depths below trench bottom to depths below land surface. The error factors in these figures require ex-planation prior to a discussion of radionuclide migration based on core analysis so that the reader may understand the problems associated with estilaating the trench floor depth. The depth of the trench floor in hole 4-4A is the least well-defined, estimated to be at least 9.0 m below land surface. The uncer-tainty is the result of having encountered material much more dense than the waste approximately 2 m above the trench floor depth interpreted from a gamma log survey. The most probable interpretation is that the pipe was driven through the slopinc side of the trench before reaching trench bottom. Other inter-pretations are possible: the pipe may have been driven through collapsed till from the trench wall, or through virtually uncon-taminated, compacted waste. These interpretations are dis-cussed in a report by David Prudic (36, p.20).

The interpretation of trench bottom in hole 5-2D is compli-cated by 0.7 m of collapsed or slumped till above the trench floor. It was for this reason that 5.2E was drilled with the aim of coring through the trench / soil interface (36).

The trench bottom in hole 8-lc is defined only to within 0.3 m. This is because no core was taken which penetrated the trench / soil interface. However, the trench bottom is extremely well-defined for hole 8-2A. This is because a third set of corcs was extracted from beneath trench 8 (hole 8-2B) encountering a clear-cut boundary between trench waste material and soil.

Figures 16 through 24 show radionuclide concentrations versus depth below trenches. Data from the present study are listed 66 i

h h

i

( t 1

Table 10. Correlations between depths below land surface and depths I j below trench bottan for core sanples listed in Appendix F l

' (Tables 16-18) and shown in Figures 16-24.

Trench- Depth (m) -below Depth (m) below

) Ible land surface _ trench bottczn -

j 4-4A > 9.0* 0.00 (max.)

I 0.66 (max.)

" 9.63-9.66

" 9.66-9.70 . 0.70 (max.)

" 9.70-9.74 0.74 (max.)

" 9.74-9.79 0.79 (max.)

. " 9.79-9.83 0.83 (max.)

" 9.83-9.88 0.88 (max.)

" 9.88-9.92 0.92 (max.)

-" 9.92-9.98 0.98 (max.)

! " 9.98-10.03 1.05 (max.)

" 10.00-10.03 1.03 (max.)

.' " 10.06-10.21 1.21 (max.)

" 10.21-10.33 1.33 (max.)

" 10.33-10.45 1. 45 (max. )

" 10.71-10.83 1. 83 (max. )

i

" 11.26-11.38 2.38 (max.) '

l 8-1C 9.3i0.3

• 0.00 0.3 i

' " 10.09-10.11 0.80 0.3

" 10.11-10.14 0.825 0.3 i

1

" 10.19- 0.29 0.96 0.3

" 10.29-10.40 1.04510.3

" 10.38-10.40 1.09 0.3 l I

" 10.53-10.66 1.30 0.3 '

i

" 11.58-11.66 1.32 20.3

! 8-2A 9.21i0.07

• 0.00 10.07

" 9.99-10.02 0.795 0.07 l 0.83 0.07

' " 10.02-10.06

" 10.9-10.18 0.925 0.07

" 10.27-10.30 1.075i0.07 l 1.15510.07

" 10.30-10.43 e

i i

• Estimate of trench floor frczn Prudic, " Core Sampling Beneath Iow-Level Radioactive Waste Trenches, West Valley, New York" (36) .

1' 67 t

, s .-y.m i_s .

, -m e . , .- -- .., -. --

._ - ._ .~. . - . _ . _ _ . - .

i I

3 Table 10. . (continued)

.. Trench- Depth (m) bels Depth (m) belw

, ible land curface trench bottom 5-2D 8.6 0.15* 0.00 0.15 8.60-8.63 0.015 0.15 3

."" 8.63-8.66 0.045 0.15 8.88-8.92 0.29 0.15 4

9.16-9.28 0.62 0.15 9.77-9.89 1.23 0.15 10.35-10.47 1.81 0.15 10.88-10.94 2.34 0.15 i 5-2E 8.60 0.15* 0.00 0.15 8.21-8.29 -0.35 0.15 1

8.29-8.33 -0.29 0.15 8.33-8.37 -0.25 0.15 8.37-8.42 -0.205 0.-15 i

8.42-8.45 -0.195 0.15 8.56-8.59 -0.025 0.15

}'

8.59-8.63 0.01 0.15 8.63-8.65 0.12 0.04 0.27 8.65-8.71 0.12 0.085 0.27 7 ~

8.71-8.73 0.12 0.12 10.27 8.73-8.78 0.12 0.15Si0.27 8.91-8.95 0.33 20.15~

9.03-9.02 0.45 0.15 9.15-9.19

+

0.57 0.15 l

l.

1 i

! 68 g.

- . - . - - . - - .,n...-.. , -. - . - . . . - , . .,,

in Appendix F. Data obtained from earlier studies are listed in an earlier report to the USEPA (12).

Tritium Because of its cagacity to exchange with non-tritiated water, tritiated water ( HHO) will migrate the farthest of all radio-nuclide species studied. For this reason, it is necessary to analyze core samples for tritium

• at greater depth than for the other radionuclide species. This was first done in the field laboratory for the purpose of estimating roughly the extent of tritium migration, so that cores would be collected to the depths necessary for a full analysis of migration rates. Further, more accurate and detailed analyses were done later at the RSL in Albany. The results are plotted in Figures 16 through 18.

Because detection limits for tritium in this study were approximately 2 to 3x 10-6 pCi/ml**, while expected back-ground levels in the soil from pre-1950 cosmogenic produc-tion rates of tritium are estimated to be approximately two orders of magnitude less than that***, we did not establish the precise maximum distance of migration. One possible meth-od of estimating this maximum distance would be to project the curves shown in Figures 16-19 down to the depth where '

background values theoretically should be reached. We know no justification for the accuracy of such a technique; so instead, we choose to identify the maximum detectable migra-tion distance, or the depth of migration measured at the detection limits. Because analyses were not performed for every depth interval, the exact depth of migration measured at detectable limits cannot be identified. The depth of migration falls within a range, the maximum and minimum of which are given below.

In hole 4-4A beneath trench 4, tritium activity dropped below detectable limits (3 x 10-6 pCi/ml) at a maximum depth of 2.25 m below the trench floor (Figure 16) . In hole 5-2D beneath trench 5, tritium activity dropped belcw detectable limits at a maximum depth of 2.9 m below the estimated trench

• In this report the term " tritium" is assumed to refer to tritium in the form of tritiated water.

• • Since most soil cores were dividel into small segments for analysis, there was not enough sample to allow detection to a lower level. For further discussion of the limits of detection of tri an, see Appendix C.

• • • This assumes the soil h35 not been exposed to tritium in the atmosphere. For m;re information on cosmogenic pro-duction rates of tritium, see Jacobs ( 19 ) .

69

DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE (m)

- I I 9.5 iO.0 10.I5 1

11. O I l'5

<r

-lX 10-8 -

flX IO-2 ,_

5

$+s+a I

-- IX 10-3 ,

q ~

t -

e t -

hl J

O -

I E -\x10'4 .  : -

~

O 4 Sample intervol end Range of Error (2cr) +

, Concentrationin Hole E _ 4-Satmp Trench Water 6

3 =- l X IO~3 -

I i e i i ir I sr l

l Figure 16. Concentration of tritiated water versus depth below land i

surface in hole 4-4A. Minimum trench floor depth is 9.0 m below land surface. Data are frcm both a 1977-78 study (12) l and the present study (Appendix F).

70 l

DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE (m) 9.0 9.5 IO.O IO!5 11 O

'8.'5 'I o .  ;

. i -

E '

l .

l ~Y tt I,.

I +.4 + 4

~

. 'n  ;

. 1 -* + .p ,

1 +

' -I ixto -

i .

. . -E--  :

- l t-

. 1 -  :

-E- -2

- l - lxlO -

w ! -

co - I h -

l  : -h-o - ,

5 -

l

+ i xid3-2 =-  : i b

~

• I g .

a 1

O -

l --- Estimated Trench Floor (8.6m)

I - I Range of Uncertainty (e 03m) 7 l X l(ib

'. I Sompie leervol and Range

l .

I of Error (2o-)

o .

j .

I ~- Concentration in Holo l ,

o ,

m - - 5-28 Trench water l

E I . +

-s o - l a .

I '. lx10 -

l -

l .

i a i il i a Figure 17. Concentration of tritiated water versus depth beim land surface in holes 5-2D and 5-2E. All data above 3 x 10-1 pCi/ml are frcn hole 5-2E, all below are frm 5-2D.

Detection limits for tritiated wat.er (2 x 10-6 pCi/ml) were reached in a core section frm 11.48 to 11.58 in depth below land surface. Data are frcn both a 1977-78 study (12) and the present sttrly (Appendix F) .

71

DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE (m) h.~ 10!O 10.'5 ll'O ll!5 12.IO 12.5 4 .

t .

1 -

l t -lxlOl e4 _

-e-

+

~'

~

-2

-IxlO -

-+-

O .

T -

e .

2 o

~. '

I -

-3

-e =-lxlO -

O -

I I .

m ,

E s +

N

~

o . -4 a :--lxlO .

Estimated Trench Floor (9.3m)

Range of uncertainty (*0.3m)

{

Sample interval and i

Range of error (2o-)

. -5

--lxlQ ,

g Concentration in Hole 8-18 Trench Water

' I I l l l Figure 18. Concentration of tritiated water versus depth below land surface in hole 8-lC. Data are fran both a 1977-78 study (12) and the present study (Appendix F) .

l 72 l

l DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE (m)

. i 9.5 10.0 10.5 11.i0 11.5

.l-r : I. :

.l.

- .1 .

-- IXIdl-

\. e.e-

- .l:

+

- .i.

I .

-e+

-:l- IX101 -

- -l-. -e-.

-l-

.\. .

-l.

1 .

I XIO 3-

=- l',

< - ;l--

u i

.I.

co _

.l-

.2 - - -- Estimated TrenchFloor (9.21m)

~

• l, '

- Range of Uncertainly (a ON)

Somple Intervol and Range IX10"4-o _ll.

,e y

• of Error (2 cr) +

g I

Z E.l.

~ *

• Concentration in Hole 8-lB Trench Water

1, .

4_

O

_ .i

-l. 5 A --

,I X IO -

-l.

.I: 1

'I.

_ 'I.

- .I-

.I.-

I i i i e i St Figure 19. Concentration of tritiated water versus depth below land surface in hole 8-2A. Data are fran both a 1977-78 study (12) and the present study (Appendix F) . i 73

i i

2 floor, with a possible trench floor location error of 10.15m (Figure 15) .

In hole 8-1C beneath trench 8, tritium activity dropped below deteccable

' limits at a depth slightly greater than 3.2 m below the estimated trench t floor, with a possible trench floor location error of 0.07 m (Figure 17). I I

i We values given above are maxinun depth of detectable migration. Minimum '

values range frm zero meters of migration in hole 4-4A to 2.25 m ( 0.07 m) in hole 8-2A, to 2.55 m ( 0.15 m) in hole 5-2E, to 3.2 m ( 0.3 m) in hole  :

8-lc. '

t Hole 4-4A was driven through the oldest trench studied. Trench 4 was closed in June 1967 while trench 5 was closed in February 1969 and trench 9 in 1

September 1970. The times for migration are 10, 8 and 7 years, respectively.  ;

It is logical to expect that migration in trench 4 would have exceeded that in trenches 5 and 8. Conversely, however, migration of tritim in trench 4 was the least of all holes studied over the ten-year period. One explan-nation is that if the pipe was driven through the side of the trench as de-1 i

scribed earlier in this section, then the true distance of migration would be greater than the vertical distance frm trench floor to sanple depth (see Prudic (36) , p. 32) .

This is in contrast to hole 8-lc where tritium shows the deepest detect-able migration. Hole 8-lC was driven chiefly through massive silts and 4

1 distorted layers of lake beds. %e proportion of coarse to fine sediments in hole 8-1C was much higher than in the other holes (see Appendix G) .

In fact, the ratio of coarse silt and sand layers to clay ard fine silt layers was, in general, higher than anticipated in all core holes.

' Further evidence to support this second explanation is observed by cm-paring the tritim fronts shown in Figures 14-17. We tritiun front slope will reflect the soil profile permeability other than the adsorbtive capa-cities of the various layers. The steeper the diffusion front, the more inpermeable the soil. In the case of tritim, the tritium diffusion front for hole 8-lC is clearly less steep than the tritium front for the other s

three holes, indicating more permeable soils. The deeper half of the tri-tium front curve for hole 4-4A is steeper than the tritium front curve for the other three holes. mis may indicate more permeable soils at depth, an hypothesis not supported by the existing data (Appendix G, Table 19) . A nore likely explanation, however, is that the dense material above the trench floor altered the direction of the flow path, and, consequently, the shape of the tritium front curve. i One exceptic,a to the generally snooth trends observed beneath the trenches is in hole 5-2D (Figure 15) . At a depth of 9.89-10.01 m below the trench

, floor a value nore than an order of magnitude above the smooth trend stands out frun the curve. %e depth of collection of this sanple is the depth at which two intersecting, steeply-dipping fractures were identified (see Appendix G, Table 20) . % e fraecures were not open nor was any ch m ical alteration visible. However, the possibility Imains that one or both of these fractures served as an avenue of preferential migration.

Variations in concentration values between holes at a given depth below the trench floor may be the result of one or nore different factors. The 74 l

, _ , , , . . , , , , , . _ _ . _ . _ _ _ _ . , , ~.

l l

l adsorptive capacities of the till encountered below the trenches will affect the actual height of the curve, or concentration values, in re-lation to depth below the trench floor; but adsorntion is probably less variable in the till than other factors. Other factors that affect water the content, relationship between concentiation values and depth are:

known to vary widely in sandy materials; flow rate, a function of the type of material and of the hydraulic gradient in the till, factors both known to vary; and the length of the flow path, probably also variable, as discussed above.

Concentration values in hole 4-4A stand apart frm values in the other four holes studied. At any given depth below the trench floor, mncen-trations of tritium in trench 8 (holes 8-lC and 8-2A) are a smaller frac-tion of the trench water concentration than in hole 4-4A, analler by at least one order of magnitude. The relationship between values in trench 5 (holes 5-2D and 5-2E) aM hole 4-4A is much closer; however, the same general treM as between 4-4A and trench 8 holds true. At any given depth below the trench floor, the concentration of tritium beneath trench 5 is a smaller fraction of the trench water concentration than in hole 4-4A.

Data from holes 5-2D and 5-2E pose a special problem. Even though the holes were intended as emparison holes to be used as the upper and low-er portions of the same data curve as illustrated in Figure 17, they show a pattern that does not support an asstmption of similar initial con-centrations of tritium. In fact, a horizontal line may be drawn on Figure 17 to separate hole 5-2E values above from hole 5-2D values below. If trench water tritium values have changed over time * (and we know fran sampling recorda that they have) then differential sedimentation could explain the discrepancy between holes 5-2D and 5-2E. Another possibility is that an isolated pocket of higher or lower tritium mncentration is located in the trench directly above one or the other of these holes, causing initial concentrations to differ. There are two other explanations suggested by Prudic (36, p. 44) . There may be a greater permeability of earth materials near hole 5- 2E, or a shorter distance fran hole 5"2E to the lateral edge of the loose collapsed till atop the trench floor and(or) to the outcrop on the trench floor of the dipping lacustrine deposits be-neath the trench (Appendix G, Tables 20-21) .

Carbon-14 At the trench-water / soil interface a number of processes involving carbon-14 may be taking place: 1) carbon-14 may be sorbed, or filtered if in sus-pension, into soil innediately below the trench floor and go no farther;

2) inorganic carbon-14, oossible as bicarbonate or carbonate ions, may

• This would be not only the result of decay of tritium, but also the result of the random release of new sources of tritium to the trench water by breaching of containers.

75

complex with soil cations allowing it to migrate rapidly through the soil (21); 3) inorganic and organic carbon com-pounds may decompose

• to release carbon-14 to the soil solu-tion (33); or 4) inorganic and organic carbon compounds may decompose to produce gaseous forms of carbon-14 (26).

As for process number one listed above, there is no evidence supporting sorption or rapid filtering into soil at West Valley. Analyses for carbon-14 at or near the estimated trench floor show no unusually high concentrationo at that interface (Figures 20 and 21) * * .

As for complexing with soil ions, process number 2, there is no evidence for preferrential complexing of organic or in-organic forms of carbon-14. A study by the RSL shows very similar behavior patterns for these two chemical forms (24).

However, there are certain patterns that may be the result of certain forms of carbon moving more rapidly through the soil than others. In trench 5 (Figure 21) 40-60 cm celow the estimated trench floor carbon-14 concentrations rise to what appears to be a secondary peak before falling off to values below detection limits. This secondary peak may be the result of certain forms of carbon migrating at a higher rate than others (41). Because of the large counting errors for most of the data beneath trench 5, the peak in values may be primarily an artifact of this large error. More data would help to confirm or deny this.

This possible secondary peak occurs at a depth where core logging located a dipping wedge of silty coarse sand 6 cm thick in hole 5-2D and two coarse silt layers, each 2 cm thick, in hole 5-2E (see Appendix G) . Also at this depth in hole 5-2E is a dipping fault contact that is saturated. These features may have resulted in preferrential migration to this depth causing the secondary peak in holes 5-2D and 5-2E.

A third explanation for such a secondary peak would be that at some time in the past the concentration of carbon-14 in trench 5 was much higher than in 1977, resulting in a " slug" of high-concentration trench water migrating downward. Poss-ibly the breaching in trench 5 of containers with high con-contrations of carbon-14 caused this high concentration.

Subsequent drop off in concentration could be the result of

• An intermediate step may involve retention on sediment before hydrolytic decomposition (24).

• • In these and subsequent figures, trench water activity values have been converted from pCi/ml to pCi/g soil, assuming a 15 percent moisture content of the soil (17).

This was done so as to be able to compare trench water values directly with subtrench soil values.

76

t DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE (m) i i

_ i i

9.5 10.0 10.5 11. 0 11.5 4

--IXld ti

-lXId 5

~

sompte intervoiond

~

.. Range of Error (2o1 ..

4 g- Concentration in Hole k ~

~

4-1B Trench Woter al

_.1 O

I ;--I XIO

-6 . ,

r Z :

O -

g _

? -

_A ..

5 _7

n. --lXIO --

i i i i Figure 20. Concentration of carbon-14 versus depth below land surface in hole 4-4A. Minimum trench floor depth is 9.0 m below land surface. Activity in 4- 1B trench water is converted fran pCi/ml to pCi/g soil for direct cmparison with soil for analyses. Background levels in soils are less than 1.1x10-7 pCi/g. Data are fran both a 1977-78 study (12) and the present study (Appendix F) . l l

77

DEPTH BEL:OW LAND SURFACE (m)

,1 l -

1 I I i

, 8.5l 9.0 9.5 10.0 10 5

. I -

, l .

l l ---Estimated Trench Floor (8.6m) lx l64_

} ',

g .

. . . Range of Uncerteinty (* 03) tr l Sampin intervoi and Ronge

', l .

.. of Error (2or) i .

O :_ -

l Average Concentration in o p- 1 e Trench 5 Water g' ,

I .

IXIO -

o 1 .

N. -

T 3l .

o _,

l m .. ,

w -

J I

O ,

l"' . ~ .

I _- l-c . .- -o 6 lxio -

3 E l DI} D D-1 o ,

1-7 o- - 0 1 . v v R _  ;

l U .

.u. -

7

e -

IXIO _

l .

. 1 i

I

$1 l I t t i Figure 21. Concentration of carbon-14 versus depth below land surface in holes 5-2D and 5-2E. Data from hole 5-2D are labelled with a "D". Soil / trench-sediment interface is at 8.21 m depth.

Trench water activity is an average of 8 measurments at 4 different locations in 1975 and 1976. The value was decreased by a factor of 3 in order to account for dilution by rainwater (see footnote, p. 79 ) and converted frm pCi/ml to pCi/g soil for direct cmparison with soil analyses. Data are frm both a 1977-78 study (12) and the present study (Appendix F) .

78

dilution by infiltrating water

• or the result of rapid sedimentation or slumping on the floor of the trench, temp-orarily preventing further radionuclide migration from the trench water into the subtrench soil.

Beneath Trench 4 (Figure 20) carbon-14 concentrations show what appears to be an increase with depth below the trench floor. Because of the large error terms on many of those values and because of the small number of data points it is not possible to determine if this trend is real or not. Regard-less, the migration of carbon-14 beneath trench 4, if real, may be the result of several different factors as described above for trench 5.

Evidence for process number 3, the decomposition of carbon compounds and release to solutions, does not exist, although such a process is probably a necessary precursor to process number 4. However, evidence does show the existence of pro-cess number 4,14 decomposition to produce above 14 C as hydrocarbons gaseous releases.

methane Gases such as CH4, (C H2 6, C H38, C4Hlo, etc.) and 14CO2 have been detected in the trench gases of all the trenches at West Valley (26).

Because of different concentrations and different limits of detection it is not possible to compare directly the migra-tion distances of tritium and carbon-14. With the additional carbon-14 analyses during 1979-80 at greater depths than in 1977, detection limits are still not reached at a depth of 11.3 m below land surface, so maximum migration is not known.

However, in comparing carbon-14 measurements with tritium measurements in trench 5 to a depth of approximately 9 m a clear general relationship does emerge. Over this range the carbon-14 concentration drops by a factor of approximately 20, whereas tritium decreases by a factor of 2 to 3 over the came depth interval. This indicates that the carbon-14 migrates at a much slower rate than the tritium, as would be expected.

The carbon-14 measurements below 9 m depth in trench 5 and most of the measurements in trench 4 are near the limit of de-tection and have high potential errors associated with them.

Therefore, the interpretations proffered above are open to question. For example, as described above, the peak in values detected in soils beneath trench 5 may not be real but an artifact of the large potential counting error. It is also significant that carbon-14 values show no consistent migration front, as do the tritium values (Figures 16-19). The rapid decrease in carbon-14 concentration directly beneath the trench 1

• Clear evidence exists for the dilution of tritium in trench 5 by a factor of 3 over 15 months. Similar dilutions of carbon-14 should have occurred also.

79 l l

- .- . _ . _ = =

j j.

4 floor indicates that there should be no measureable carbon-14 in deeper cores; however, deeper cores beneath trenches 4 and 5 do show positive' measurements. This may be a result of migra-tion rates of different carbon-14 ionic forms or be the result j

of sample analyses near detection limits, where positive values ,

l are the result of very slight contamination. Gas-proportional l

counting of CO2 is sensitive to minute concentrations of im-

purities and occasional positive values from samples below i

detection limits are an artifact of the system. Future studies

• should include additional analyses of cores using larger core sections to obtain higher sensitivity in the regions showing values near detection limits.

Concentrations of carbon-14 beneath trench 8 (holes 8-lc and 8-2A) were all below detection limits. These values were not plotted on a graph, but are listed in Table 16 of Appendix F.

Strontium-90 Detectable concentrations of strontium-90 below the trenches were found beneath trenches 4 and 5 (Figure 22). Beneath trench 4 (hole 4-4A) values above detection limits were found and may have been up to 70 cm below the trench floor; the uncertain location of the trench floor precludes a more accu-rate estimate. Beneath trench 5 (holes 5-2D and 5-2E) values above detection limits were found 5 cm below the estimated trench floor with a possible trench floor location error of 15 cm. Evidence for the migration of strontium-90 beneath the trenches is inconclusive.

1 The concentrations of strontium-90 measured beneath trench 4 are 40 to 50 times the concentrations found beneath trench 5.

, This result is reasonable because: 1) water collected from trench 4 has the highest concentration of strontium-90 of all the trenches studied to date (more than 100 times the concen-tration found in the water collected from trench 5); and 2) because the permeability of the soil beneath trench 4 is much higher than that beneath trench 5, the sorbtive properties

,a are probably lower as well.

Detectable concentrations of strontium-90 were found deeper i

below trench 4 than below trench 5. This may be the result of one or both of the following: 1) the generally more per-meable nature of the soil beneath trench 4 may have allowed a

migration to proceed to greater depths than beneath trench 5; and 2) because detectable concentrations of strontium-90 below i

the trench floor in hole 4-4A are found at the same depth as i

80 4

-w ,, -n. --- . , - - . - , - - - -

,- w

A. DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE (m)

~ '

9!O 9'.5 10.O 10'.5 4 Mwumum Trench

- l Floor Depth (9.0m)  ;

4 *

• T Sompie Intervol and I

• 1 Range of Error (2r) l 4 -

W -6 i .

J elXIO l o : .

l I -

z : I l

I 8* -

l II II]

7

[2 -.ixio

~

f JJ l l I I 1

B.

,8!5' 90 3

9.'5 IO!O 10!5

}

l *

-- Estimated Trench Floor (8.6m) y -

, l ,

Range of Uncertainty (*0.15m)

Somple Interval and Range f - . ,

of Error (2r) g l ,

k --lXIO .

l O -

4  :

• l .

o - ....

~-

$J - ,.

l ,

O .

.; l .

I '

z --I xlO.7 -

ot -

Ti oEi :

m -

. l

'b E

\. k T"

g 3a l\.

D

-l '- 1 I I I Figure 22. Concentration of strontium-90 versus depth below land surface ,

in holes 4-4A, and 5-2D and 5-2E. In graph A, the minimum j trench floor depth is shown. In graph B the estimated I trench floor depth and the range of error are shown. Data are fran both a 1977-78 study (12) and the present sttdy (Appendix F) . Concentration of strontium-90 in the trench water above holes 5-2D and 5-2E is 1.lE-04 6%. Concentrations in trench 4 trench water range fran 4.0E-03 5% to 2.02E-02 5%.

81

a 3 cm thick layer of very fine to medium sand underlain by a 4 cm layer of silt dipping at 45 degrees, these layers might be providing a more rapid pathway from the trench allowing strontium-90 at this depth to exceed the expected levels. No analyses were done between this depth and the trench floor and thus it is not known whether these high values constitute a separate peak or are merely part of the slosing front.

Values above detection limits were also found beneath trench 5 i between the trench / sediment interface and the estimated trench floor, among the sediment laid down during or since trench excavation. Except for the topmost value in hole 5-2E, the concentrations steadily increase from top to bottom of this section above the trench floor. (This clear trend, also ob-served for tritium in trench 5 (Figure 17), appears to be the result of decreasing concentrations in the trench water during the time sedimentation was taking place. This decrease may be the result of precipitation of strontium-90 over time depleting the concentration in trench water, or dilution of the trench water by the infiltration of rain water. One or both of these factors may have contributed to this decrease in concentration).

No migration of strontium-90 beneath trench 8 (holes 8-lc and 8-2A) was detected.

Cesium-134, -137 Cesium-134 and -137 are anthropogenic (man-made) nuclides not naturally present in the soil at West Valley (36) but found in the trenches (see Section 7.0). Furthermore, being cationic, they will tend to be readily absorbed by the anionic, clay-rich till underlying the trenches (20,42), making the possi-bility of migration more than a few millimeters extremely un-likely. Therefore, any detectable radio-cesium below a few millimeters depth would almost certainly be the result of con-tamination during the collection process. For this reason, any radio-cesium detected in this study may be thought to be evidence for down-hole contamination.

Both cesium-134 and -137 show evidence for possible contami-nation 15 cm below the estimated trench floor in hole 5-2E (Figure 23) . Radio-cesium was detected using both the germanium-lithium detector system and the cesium chloro-platinate method of analysis (see Appendix C). This depth, however, is within the range of error possible for the loca-tion of the trench floor; the radio-cesium in these samples may be the result of direct contact with the trench waste before silt accumulation began on the trench floor. In con-clusion, the absence of good evidence for detectable radio-cesium below the trench floor strongly suggests we collected uncontaminated cores.

82

A. DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE (m) 9h IOh 8.'5 l 9.O

- _[ l IXld -

l 5 -

-- Estimated Trench Floor (8.6m) l

• Range of Uncertainty (*0.15m)

~

l

_,,_ Sample interycl acel Range g

. . of Error (2cr) cu - . 'r -

, Concentration in Hole 5-2B f -

. . .l  : Trench Water ,,7 w

[ -

ol

_T

<- IXIO -

o z

~

- lf "

Z -

l f.'

fm O _

l

E .

~

l - .. -8 R -- IXIO -

aa  :

. 1} -

T"

\ .

9

-3XIO j. i il T e

+1 I i B

3

,r M5I .

9!O 95 10'.O i .

l .

6 W _ .

ixiO -

h

~

3 w

a . d. I -

o .".

.-]

I l z -

'. i

-7 eO

}TI IXIO -

• ~

T T. p]}y.

in e: T  : I-u . . T, T v

i. -

I

. l .

. . i i i Figure 23. Concentration of cesitm-134 in graph A and cesium-137 in graph B versus depth below land surface in hole 5-2E.

Activity in hole 5-2B trench water sample has been converted frcm pCi/ml to pCi/g soil for ready ccraparison with soil analyses. Data are frcm both a 1977-78 study (12) and the present study (Appendix F) .

83

Plutonium-238 Plutonium-238 was detected beneath all three trenches studied and in four of the five sub-trench cores. Most of the data show values above computed background levels for West Valley soil (23). Whether in all samples the values reflect actual migration in the soil is difficult to ascertain. The large l potential laboratory counting errors for most of these anal- '

yses make any interpretations somewhat speculative. It should be noted, however, that because of the extreme insolubility of plutonium (32,34) and the strong sorption of plutonium on geologic material, and especially on anionic material such as the till at West Valley (32, 40), migration of more than a few centimeters or millimeters is extremely unlikely.

Beneath trench 8, at two different depths concentrations of plutonium-238 were detected an order of magnitude above any other trenches measured (Figure 24). Error terms for these two values are 13 percent and 16 percent. Also, trench water concentration of plutonium-238 in trench 8 is more than three orders of magnitude above either trench 4 or 5 trench water values. For these reasons migration cannot be ruled out as a possibility. The values detected well below the floor of trench 8 may possibly be the result of migration (80 cm in hole 8-lc ( 0.3 m) and 108 cm in hole 8-2A ( 0.12 m)),but are probably the result of high background values. The values sus-pected of being background are within one order of magnitude of the only background analysis to date (23).

Other Radionuclides All other radionuclide species measured show either no detect-able activity below the trench floor, or a range of activity attributable to activity of the naturally occurring element.

This range of activity is characterized by a reasonably steady level of activity throughout the soil profile, showing no systematic decrease in activity with depth, and in some cases, by the existence of lower values of activity in the trench water than in the underlying soil. Radionuclides showing no detectable activity beneath the trench floor include iron-SS, nickel-63*, iodine-129, americium-241**, cobalt-60*, and ruthenium-106. Radionuclides showing activity attributable to the naturally occurring element include plutonium-239, potassium d0, thorium-232, uranium-234, -235, and -238.

• Beneath trench 8 nickel-63 shows one value and cobalt-60 shows two values that were approximately equal to concen-trations found to occur naturally in West Valley soils (23).

• • In hole 8-2A a value of 7x10-ll pCi/g ( 75%) was detected for americium-241. The large potential laboratory counting error leaves this extremely low value suspect.

84 2 _ -

i DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE (m)

(8-1C) 9,0 95 1

10,0 10.5 II,0 9]5 10.'O !6.0 i _8 5 6-2A) .9:0 ll! - -

l .

11 l -

__ _. Estimated Trench Floor

, .ll -

(8-10 and 8-2A) gll Ronge of Uncertainty (8-lC)

- -- Range of Uncertainty (8-2A)

-5

-lxlO ll-j l

_'_ Sample Interval and Range

. of Error (2a-)

.l- Concentration in Hole

~ -

l l 8-18 Trench Water 4

.y, -

u .

l

.lI c6 .

Eo --Ixi6 - I .

1l.

llI s.! .

ao -

us -ll rA us . .

_.1

. . I o -

llI -

C 1 7 .

t z :-Ix10 .

lll m -

ll.l .

=P- ." . . . .c so .

cu -

ll.l

..c ..C a -

5 llj __

g .

j -

- .c

-lxlO .

.I.l -

. . .l.l -

l!.

..A

. l

.l.

l l . o

- .!.l I . m Figge 24. Concentration of plutonium,238 versus depth below land surface in holes 8-lC and 8-2A. Trench floors coincide on this graph for direct ccznparison of migration depths.

Activity in hole 8-1B tre.nch water sample has been converted frm pCi/ml to pCi/g scil for ready cmparison with soil analyses. "A" designates samples frm hole 8-2A and "C" frca hole 8-lC. Data are frcm both a 1977-78 study (12) and the present study (Appendix F) .

85

4 10.5 Future Studies

,' Future studies of sub-trench migration of radionuclides should include additional analyses of cores using longer core sec-tions to obtain higher sensitivity in the reaions showing val-ues near detection limits. This would proviae greater accuracy in defining the migration rate of tritium,.as well as help i clear up problems associated with the interpretation of data on carbon-14, strontium-90 and plutonium-238 migration rates.

Now that a substantial body of information has been obtained from field experiments on migration rates and from computer modeling of this migration, laboratory experiments should be done to study the adsorption and desorption properties of the West Valley soil. Adsorption and desorption should be revers-ible procedures; if not, this is evidence for the creation of neutral substances or the formation of radiocolloids. In order

, to test the various. components of the West Valley soil for its adsorption properties, a sample of uncontaminated soil from the West Valley site could be broken down into its various compo-

, nents for testing with a sample of water from the burial trenches. Desorption could then be carried out on these same

, samples to test the reversibility of adsorption experiments.

1 3

1 1

l l

f 86

.- , - - , - . - - - . . . .. . - . . _ - . . . ~

11.0 REFERENCES

(1) Columbo, P., Weiss, A.J. 1979.

l Evaluation of Isotope Migration - Land Burial Water Chemistry at Commercially Operated Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Sites: Progress Report No. 10, July -

September, 1978. Brookhaven National Laboratory Report No. BNL-NUREG-51083, NUREG/CR-1037, 38 p.*

(2) Columbo, P., Weiss, A.J., Francis, A.J. 1977.

Evaluation of Isotope Migration - Gand Burial Water Chemistry at Commercially Operated Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Sites: Quarterly Progress Report, October-December, 1976. Brookhaven National Laboratory Report No.

BNL-NUREG-50670, 21 p .**

(3) Columbo, P., Weiss, A.J., Francis, A.J. 1978.

Evaluation of Isotope Migration - Land Burial Water Chemistry at Commercially Operated Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Sites: Progress Report No. 7, October-December, 1977. Brookhaven National Laboratory Report No.

BNL-NUREG-50861, 2 6 p .**

(4) Columbo, P., Weiss, A.J. Francis, A.J. 1978.

Evaluation of Isotope Migration - Land Burial Water Chemistry at Commercially Operated Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Sites: Progress Report No. 8, January-March, 1978. Brookhaven National Laboratory Report No.

BNL-NUREG-50937, NUREG/CR-0537, 43 p.*

(5) Dames and Moore, 1963.

Site Investigation, Propoe'd Spent Nuclear Fuel Process-ing Plant, Near Springville, New '.~ork, for Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., 68 p.

(6) Dames and Moore, 1970.

Report, Soils and Foundation Investigation, Proposed Iodine Recovery Building, West Valley, New York, Nuclear Fuel Services, Incorporated. Report for Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., 23 p.

(7) Dames and Moore, 1971. Report, Soils and Foundation Investigation, Proposed High Level Waste Facility, West Valley, New York, for Nuclear Fuel Services, Incorporated, 33 p.

(8) Dames and Moore, 1974.

Foundation and Hydrology Studies Emergency Water Supply West for Cooling at the Spent Fuel Reprocessing Plu.'t, Valley, New York, 108 p.

C7

(9) Dana, R.H., Jr., Fakundiny, R.H., LaFleur, j

R.G.,

Molello, S.A., Whitney, P.R. (in press).

Geologic Study of the Burial Medium at a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Burial Site at West Valley, New York.

New York State Geological Survey Open-file Report No.

NYSGS/79-2411. 70 p.

(10) Dana, R.H., Jr., Molello, S.A., Fickies, R.H.,

Fakundiny, R.H. 1979. General Investigation of Radio-nuclide Retention in Migration Pathways at the West Valley, New York, Low-Level Burial Site. Annual Report to the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, y

Sept. 1, 1977 - Sept. 30, 1978. NUREG/CR-0794, 99 p.*

( 11) Dana , R. H. , Jr. , Molello, S.A., Fickies, R.H.,

Fakundiny, R.H. 1979.

Research at a Low-Level Radio-active Waste Burial Introduction and Summary.

Site at West Valley, New York - An i

Survey Open-file Report No. New York State Geological NYSGS/79-2413, 39 pp.

( 12) Dan a, R. H. , Jr. Molello, R.H. S.A., Fickies, R.H.,

(in press), . Fakundiny, Sampling, Analysis and Study of Migration of Trench Water from a Low-Level Solid Radio-active Waste Burial Ground at West Valley, New York. New York State Geological NYSGS/79-2408, 63 p. Survey Open-file Report No.

i (13) Dana, R.H., Jr., Molello, 4

R.H. (in press) . Stud S.A., Fickies, R.H.,

Fakundiny, of Ground-water Flow at a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Burial Site at West Valley, New York.

20. NYSGS/79-2409,New 36 p. York State Geological Survey Open-file Repo (14 ) Dingle, A.N. , Gatz, D. 1967.

Rain Scavenging Studies.

Progress Report No. 3 (UC-53-4), Department of Meteo-rology and46 Michigan, Oceanography,

p. Michigan University, Ann Arbor ,

(15) Dixon, R.M. , and Peterson, A.E. 1971.

Water Infiltration Control: Channel System Concept.

Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. America, Vol. 35, p. 968-974.

(16 ) Duckworth, J. P. , Jump, M.J., .and Knight, B.E. 1974.

! Low-Level Final Report. Radioactive Waste Management Research Project, 1

Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., 136 p.

(17 ) Fickies, R. H. , Fakundiny, R. H. , Mosely, E. T. 1979.

Geotechnical Analysis of Soil Samples from Test Trench l at New Western York. New U.S. York Nuclear Service Center, West Valley, i

NUREG/CR-0644, 21 p.* Nuclear Regulatory Commission Report No.

88

18 ) International Atomic Energy Agency, 1973.

Control of Iodine in the Nuclear Industry. Vienna, Technical Report Series No. 148, 101 p.

i t

(19 ) Jacobs, D.G. 1978. Sources of Tritium and its Behavior Upon Release to the Environment. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Div. of Technical Information (TID-24635),

Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

( 20) Jenne, E.A., Wahlberg., J.S. 1968. Role of Certain Stream Sediment Components in Radioion Sorption. U.S.

Geological Survey Professional Paner a33-F, 16 p. _

i ( 21) Jordan, C.F., Stewart, M. L. , Kline, J.R. 1973.

Tritium Movement in Soils; The Importance of Exchange and High Initial Dispersion. Health Physics, Vol. 27,

p. 37-43.

(22) Kelleher, W.J., Michael, E.J. 1973. Low-Level Radio-active Waste Burial Site Inventory for the West Valley Site, Cattaraugus County, N.Y. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Report, June 20, 1973, 21 p.

(23) Krishnamurty, Kotra V. 1980. Personal Communication.***

(24) Kunz, Charles O., 1980. Personal Communication.***

(25) Matuszek, J.M. 1979. Personal Communication. ***

l. (26) Matuszek, J.M., Jr.,Kunz, C.O., Hutchinson, J.A.,

Mahoney, W.E. (in press). Studies of Trench Gas at a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Burial Site at West Valley, New York. N.Y.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report No.

NYSGS/79-2407, 63 p.

(27 ) Matuszek, J.M. , Strnisa, F.V., and Baxter, C.F.-1976.

l Radionuclide Dynamics and Health Implications for the j New York Nuclear Service Center's Radioactive Waste Burial Site. In International Symposium on the Manage-ment of Radioactive WastosFrom The Nuclear Fuel Cycle,

IAEA-SM-207/59, Vienna, March, 1976, p. 359-372.

(:28 ) Means, Jeffrey L., Crerar, David A., Borcsik, Maria P.

1978. Adsorption of Co and Selected Activities by Mn and Fe Oxides in Soils and Sediments. Geochimica et

Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 42, p. 1763-1773.

(29 ) ' Molello, Trench No. 5 Isotope Inventory, l

S.A. 1977.

j West Valley, New York. N.Y. State Geological Survey Open-file Report No. NYSGS/77-2407, 31 p.

! 89

-- - - . . . - . . - , , . . . - - ~ . - - . - - , - . - .- -.- -.

(30 ) Molello, S.A. 1977.

Estimated Location of Container Types, Trench No. 5, Low-Level Radioactive Waste Burial Ground, Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., West Valley, N.Y.

N.Y. State map.

oversized Geological Survey Open-file No. NYSGS/77-2408, 1

~

(31) New York State Department of Health, Radiological Sciences Laboratory, Division of Laboratories and Res-earch 1977. Determination of Gross .upha/ Gross Beta Activity in Air and Water Samples. N.Y. State Health Department Report. Dec. 1977, 19 p.

(32) Nishita, H. 1979.

A Review of Behavior of Plutonium in Soils and other Geologic Materials. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Report No. NUREG/CR-1056, 111 p.*

(33) Polzer, Wilfred L. , Fowler, Eric B., Esstington, Edward H. 1979.

Characteristics of Wastes and Soils Which

' Affect Transport of Radionuclides Through the Soil and Their Relationship to Waste Management, Annual Report FY78. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Report No.

NUREG/CR-0842, 71 p.*

(34) Prudic, David E. 1978.

Installation of Water- and Gas-sampling Wells in Low-Level Radioactive-waste Burial Trenches, West Valley, New York. U.S. Geological i

Survey, Open-file Report 78-718, 70 p.

i (35) Prudic, D.E. 1979. Recharge to Low-Level Radioactive-Waste Burial Trenches 11 through 14, West Valley, New York. U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 79-990, 5 p.

J (36) Prudic, David E. 1979. Core Sampling Beneath Low-Level Radioactive-waste Burial Trenches, West Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York. U.S. Geological Survey, Open-file Report 79-1532, 55 p.

(37) Prudic, D.E.1980. Personal Communication.***

I (38) Prudic, D.E.'and Randall, A.D. 1979. Ground Water i

' Hydrology and Sub-surface Migration of Radioisotopes at a Low-Level Solid Radioactive Waste Disposal Site, West i Valley, New York. Management of Low-Level Radioactive l

Waste, Carter, Moghissi and Kahn, eds. Pergamon Press, New York, p 853-882.

i 90

(39) Ragan, V., Molello, S., Dana, R.H., Jr., Fickies, R.H.

and Fakundiny, R.H. 1979. Studies of Surface Water Transport of Radionuclides at the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Burial Site at West Valley, New York, 1976-1977.

N.Y. State Geological Survey Open-file Report No.

NYSGS/79-2410, 79 p.

(40) Rhodes, D.W. 1957. Adsorption of Plutonium by Soil.

Soil Science, Vol. 54, p. 465-471.

(41) Seitz, M.G., Rickert, P.G., Fried, S., Friedman, A.M.,

Steindler, M.J. 1979. Migratory Properties of Some Nuclear Waste Elements In Geologic Media. Nuclear Technology, Vol. 44, p. 284-296.

(42) Tamura, T., Jacobs, D.G. 1960. Structural Implications In Cesium Sorption. Health Physics, Vol. 2,

p. 391-398.

(43) Taylor, D.W. 1958. Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics.

Wiley Press, 700 p.

(44) United States Environmental Protection Agency 1976.

Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulations. Federal Register, Vol. 41, No . 133, p. 28402 - 28409, July 9, 1976.

(45) Walker, F. William, Kerouac, George J., Francis, M.

Rourke 1977. Chart of the Nuclides. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, 12th ed.

Available for purchase from the NRC/GPO Sales Program, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161.

• • Available for purchase from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161.

• • • Notes available from the New York State Geological Survey /

State Museum, New York State Education Department, Albany, NY 12230.

91

i APPENDIX A PRECIPITATION AND STREAMFLOW DATA FOR THE WESTERN NEW YORK NUCLEAR SERVICE CENTER (July,1978 through December, 1979) l l

93

TABLE 11 Precipitation at Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.,

West Valley, New York from 7/24/78 through 12/31/79.

(All precipitation measured at Raingage #2, except where indicated.)

Date cm 7/24/78-8/1/78 1.91 8/1 -8/7 0.64 8/7 -8/14 3.56 8/14 -8/21 2.79 8/21 -8/29 0.64 8/29 -9/4 1.27 9/4 -9/11 1.27 9/11 -9/18 7.87 9/18 -9/25 1.02 9/25 -10/2 0.64 10/2 -10/9 5.08 10/9 -10/16 3.68 10/16 -10/23 1.02 10/23 -10/31 2.03 10/31 -11/6 0.25 11/6 -11/13 0.38 11/13 -11/20 1.14 11/20 -11/27 0.84 11/27 -12/8 1.17 12/8 -12/31/78 No record Total 7/24/78 to 12/8 /78 37.20 1/1/79 -1/8/79 No record 1/9 -1/15 1.27 1/15 -1/23 2.79 1/23 -1/30 6.73 1/30 -3/5 8.76 3/5 -3/22 1.40 3/22 -3/29 2.67 3/29 -4/4 2.29 4/4 -4/17 5.21 4/17 -4/23 0.13 4/23 -4/30 1.27 4/30 -5/7 0.89 5/7 -5/14 4.32 5/14 -5/21 0.76 5/21 -5/28 2.29 5/28 -6/4 1.40 6/4 -6/11 2.79

, 94

I i

TABLE 11 (Continued).

Date g 6/11/79-6/19/79 0.25 6/19 -6/25 1.02 6/25 -7/2 3.18 7/2 -7/9 0.38 7/9 -7/16 4.06 7/16 -7/23 0.25 7/23 -7/30 2.54 7/30 -8/6 2.41 8/6 -8/13 1.52 8/13 -8/20 1.27 8/20 -8/27 3.81 8/27 -9/3 4.57 9/3 -9/6 5.46 9/6 -9/10 0.89 9/12 -9/17 12.57 9/17 -9/24 1.02 9/24 -10/9 7.49 10/9 -10/15 2.03 10/15 -11/6 4.06  ;

11/6 -11/13 2.79 11/13 -11/19 1.14 11/19 -11/26 2.54 11/26 -12/3 2.03 12/3 -12/10 1.4 12/10 -12/17 0.89 12/17 -12/26 0.76*

12/26 -12/31 0.0 1979 Total 115.30 f

• Rain Gage #1 95

]

TABLE 12. Streamflow at NFS site, West Valley, N.Y.

j Streamflow l Station Date (liters) 1 No. 1 Frank's 1978 10/1 - 10/8 6.9 x 106 Creek (all values 10/9 - 10/16 1.2 x 102 calculated from 10/17 - 10/31 1.8 x 107 I

mean daily dis- 11/1 - 11/6 2.7 x 106 charge) 11/7 - 11/3 2.1 x 106

{ 11/14 - 11/20 2.1 x 106 .

11/21 - 11/27 5.8 x 106

{

11/28 - 12/8 2.2 x 107 i

' 12/9 - 11/15 1.4 x 107 12/16 - 12/22 1.7 x 107 12/23 - 12/31 1.7 x 107 l

1979 1/1 -

1/14 8.2 x 107 l 1/15 - 1/28 3.2 x 107 l 1/29 - 2/11 1.6 x 107 2/12 - 2/25 1.5 x 107

! 2/26 - 3/11 7.9 x 107 j 3/12 - 3/31 7.9 x 107 i

4/1 -

4/7 2.4 x 107 4/8 -

4/14 4.2 x 107 I

4/15 - 4/25 1.5 x 107 4/26 - 4/30 4.0 x 106 5/1 -

5/7 3.1 x 1066 5/8 -

5/14 7.9 x 10 5/15 - 5/21 1.6 x 106 5/22 - 5/28 3.3 x 106 4

5/29 - 6/4 3,1 x 106 1

6/5 -

6/11 9.6 x 105 6/12 - 6/18 1.7 x 105

! 6/19 - 6/25 0 6/26 - 7/2 9.7 x 104 7/3 -

7/9 4.9 x 104 7/10 - 7/16 1.4 x 106 7/17 - 7/24 2.4 x 104

') 7/25 - 7/31 1.7 x 105 8/l -

8/6 1.9 x 105 8/7 -

8/13 2.4 x 104 8/14 - 8/20 7.3 x 104 8/21 - 8/27 8.1 x 105 8/28 - 9/6 7.9 x 106 9/7 -

9/10 1.7 x 106 9/11 - 9/17 8.3 x 107 9/18 - 9/24 1.3 x 106

[ 9/25 - 9/30 3.4 x 105 i

96 -

TABLE 12 (continued).

Streamflow Station Date (liters)

No. 2 Lagoon Road 1978 7/24 -

8/l 3.79x10j 8/7 -

8/14 2.73 x 10 8/14 -

8/21 3.10 x 10 5 8/21 -

8/29 6.06 x 10 4 8/29 -

9/4 9.84 x 104 9/4 -

9/11 9.08 x 104 9/11 -

9/18 9.54 x 105 9/18 -

10/9 1.03 x 106 10/9 -

10/16 6.06 x 104 10/16 -

10/23* 6.9 x 105 10/23 -

10/31* 5.3 x 105 10/31 -

11/6* 2.9 x 104 11/6 -

11/13* 1.2 x 10 4 11/13 -

11/20* 3.0 x 10 4 11/20 -

11/27* 2.6 x 105 11/27 -

12/8* 7.3 x 10 5 1979 4/1 -

4/7* 5.5 x 105 4/8 -

4/14* 1.1 x 10 6 4/15 -

4/25* 8.5 x 104 4/26 -

4/30* 1.7 x 104 4/30 -

5/7 2.27 x 105 5/7 -

5/15 1.12 x 10 6 5/15 -

5/21 1.29 x 105 5/21 -

5/28 2.80 x 10 5 5/28 -

6/4 3.18 x 105 6/4 -

6/11 2.57 x 105 6/11 -

6/19 6.81 x 104 6/19 -

6/25 8.32 x 104 6/25 -

7/2 1.97 x 105 7/2 -

7/9 9.08 x 104

) 7/9 -

7/16 2.80 x 105 7/16 -

7/24 6.06 x 104 7/24 -

7/30 2.73 x 105 7/30 -

8/6 2.57 x 105 8/6 -

8/13 1.51 x 105 8/13 -

8/20 1.59 x 10 5 8/20 -

8/27 3.63 x 105 9.69 x 10 5 j

8/27 -

9/6 9/6 -

9/10 1.97 x 1056 9/10 -

9/17* 4.2 x 10 9/17 -

9/24 1.97 x 10 5 9/24 -

9/30* 5.2 x 10 4 9/30 -

11/15 No data 11/15 -

11/16 7.57 x 10 3 11/16 -

11/19 1.14 x 105 11/19 -

11/26 7.49 x 105 l

• Calculated from mean daily discharge. All others cal-culated from digital flow totalizer.

97

f 1

i TABLE 12 (continued).

Streamflow Station Date (liters)

No. 2 Lagoon Road 1979 11/26 -

12/3 6.43 x 105 j 12/3 -

12/10 9.54 x 105 J

12/10 -

12/17 3.56 x 105 No. 4 Swamp 1978 9/18 -

10/9 1.14 x 105 10/9 -

10/16 2.04 x 10

. 10/16 -

10/23* 4.6 x 104 2

10/23 -

10/31* 1.6 x 105 10/31 -

11/6* C 11/6 -

11/135 0 11/13 -

11/20* 5.0 x 103 11/20 -

11/27* 4.9 x 10 4 11/27 -

12/8* 2.0 x 105

1979 4/1 -

4/7* 1.1 x 105 4/8 -

4/14* 4.2 x 1054 4/15 -

4/25* 3.4 x 10

4/26 -

4/30 0 4/30 -

5/7 0 5/7 -

5/15 2.5 x 105 5/15 -

5/21 0 5/21 -

5/28 3.03 x 104 a 5/28 -

6/4 6.06 x 104 l 6/4 -

6/11 4.0 x 103 1

6/21 -

6/19 2.0 x 103 6/19 -

6/25* 7.2 x 10 3 6/25 -

7/2* 2.4 x 103 7/2 -

7/9 0 l 7/9 -

7/16 7.5 x 103 7/16 -

7/24 0 7/24 -

7/30 0 7/30 -

8/6 3.79 x 103 8/6 -

8/13 0 8/13 -

8/20 0 i 8/20 -

8/27 1.14 x 104 8/27 -

9/6 1.29 x 105 9/6 -

9/10 3.79 x 103 9/10 -

9/17 4.92 x 105 9/17 -

9/24 0 9/24 -

11/15 No data 11/16 -

11/19 0 11/19 -

11/26 1.14 x 1054 11/26 -

12/3 1.14 x 10

12/3 -

12/10 4.16 x 104 12/10 -

12/17 0

!- " Calculated from mean daily discharge. All others cal-

.culated from digital flow totalizer.

98

APPENDIX B l RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSES OF SURFACE 1

WATER AND SEl.;IMENT SAMPLES COLLECTED AT WEST VALLEY, NEW YORK l

l t

1 1

99 EU

TABLE 13. Radiochemical analyses of Surface Water and Sediment Samples Collected 1/24/78 - 9/24/79.

I. Flow-proportioned Weekly Composite Samples:

Collection Total a Total 8 HHO Station Date (p Ci/1) (p Ci/1) (p Ci/l)

1. 2 Lagoon' 7/24/78-8/1/78 <40 870 12% 3500 29%

Road 8/7 -8/14 110 74% 570 15% 29400 6%

8/14 -8/21 320 53% 1320 10% 38000 2 5%

8/21 -8/29 <50 1730 1 8% 88000 4%

8/29 -9/4 140 64% 1700 8% 37000 7%

9/4 -9/11 <40 2200 ! 7% 78000 5%

9/11 -9/18 110 61% 730 13% 9000 22%

9/18 -10/9 <30 560 14% 13000 16%

4/30/79-5/7/79 <40 1410 9% 37200 5%

5/7 -5/15 <50 1180 10% 13400 i 7%

3/15 -5/21 <40 1620 9% 34000 5%

5/21 -5/28 <40 800 13% 11100 8%

5/28 -6/4 <30 1210 10% 25000 8%

6/4 -6/11 <40 1260 10% 18600 9%

6/11 -6/18 <30 1300 9% 27000 7%

6/18 -6/25 <30 1250 10% 13800 12%

6/25 -7/2 <20 1140 10% 8000 12%

7/2 -7/9 <17 1060 11% 9600 11%

7/9 -7/16 60 83% 960 12% 4200 i22%

7/16 -7/24 <20 1170 10% 15400 8%

7/24 -7/30 <30 1030 11% 6700 12%

7/30 -8/6 <30 1120 10% 3500 20%

8/6 -8/13 <40 1320 9% 4300 17%

8/13 -8/20 <20 660 13% 3800 19%

8/20 -8/27 60 93% 760 12% 1820 10%

8/27 -9/6 <50 830 12% 4600 6%

9/6 -9/10 <40 950 11% 7200 14%

9/10 -9/17 <40 300 21% 3700 7%

9/17 -9/24 <40 1320 9% 19500 7%

11/16 -11/19 <40 1980 8% 23800 6%

11/19 -11/26 <14 910 11% 10600 !10%

11/26 -12/3 <13 700 13% 10300 10%

12/3 -12/10 <12 520 15% 6400 5%

12/10 -12/17 <20 800 12% 0900 il]%

1. 3 Bucket 7/17/78-7/24/78 190 53% 1880 8% 880 15%

7/24 -8/l 90 70% 1220 10% 17800 4%

8/7 -8/14 700 56% 1900 17% 1980 8%

8/14 -8/21 800 46% 1200 16% 500 24%

1. 4 Swamp 5/8/78 -5/15/78 <4 47 12% 1700 20%

5/15 -5/22 8 82% 47 12% 1600 22%'

5/22 -5/30 <3 47 14% 2100 17%

6/5- -6/12 <6 38 40% 2300 15%

6/12 -6/19 <3 30 29% 1100 31%

100

TABLE 13 (continued).

3 Collection Total a Total B HHO Date (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l)

Station

1. 4 Swamp 6/19/78-6/26/78 <4 42 30% 1200 28%

-8/14 100 64% 200 34% 460 28%

(continued) 8/7 8/14 -8/21 1900 52% 1500 26% <l30 8/29 -9/4 20 76% 97 18% 380 37%

-9/11 <4 71 16% 570 25%

9/4 220 62%

9/11 -9/18 <30 100 35%

9/18 -10/9 <5 44 32% 340 40%

5/7/79-5/15/79 <9 4 78% 370 41%

28 19% 380 40%

5/21 -5/28 <4

<300 5/28 -6/4 <3 27 19%

-6/11 <4 24 28% <300 6/4 500 69%

7/9 -7/16 <2 23 29%

7/30 -8/6 <4 25 37% 300 51%

8/20 -8/27 <l.8 23 19% 300 51%

8/27 -9/6 <l.6 25 15% 330 39%

9/6 -9/10 <5 26 i 46% <500 9/10 -9/17 <1 9 30% 186 69%

16 32% 480 27%

11/19 -11/26 <l.7 II. Frank's Creek Daily Grab Samples, Composited:

3 Collection Total a Total 8 HHO Dates (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l)

<l.6 7 44% <400 4/25/78-4/30/78 48% <400 5/1 - 5/7 <2 6

- 5/14 <2 7 46% 400 79%

5/8 7 55% <400 5/15 - 5/21 <l.8

<2 37% 400 77%

5/24 - 5/29 9 60% 400 76%

5/30 - 6/4 <3 5 11 30% 400 94%

6/5 - 6/11 <3 27% 400 82%

6/12 - 6/18 <2 13 10 30% 210 71%

4/26/79-4/30/79 <l.5

<180 5/1 - 5/7 <3 6.0! 48%

8.0i 35% <180 5/8 - 5/14 <l.5 8.01 35% <180 5/15 - 5/22 <l.6 6.0 38% <300 5/23 - 5/27 <l.9 6.0 39% <300 5/28 - 6/3 <l.7

<2 8.01 32% <300 6/4 - 6/10 <300 6/11 - 6/17 <3 13 23%

<2 16 i 20% 800 1 50%

6/18 - 6/24 19 1 25% 700 53%

6/25 - 7/1 <2 11 i 39% 500 1 75%

7/2 - 7/8 <2 500 i 72%

7/9 - 7/15 <2 17 i 27%

16 1 18% 190 1 72%

7/16 - 7/22 <l.9 l l

101

TABLE 13. (continued) .

II. Daily Grab Samples, Composited-Continued:

Collection Total a Total 8 HHO Dates (p Ci/1) (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l) 7/23 - 7/29/79 <2 21 16% 180 80%

7/30 - 8/5 <2 20 21% 150 86%

8/6 - 8/12 <2 21 16% 220 58%

8/13 - 8/19 <2 17 18% 220 59%

8/20 - 8/26 7.0 '84% 24 18% 380 35%

8/27 - 9/2 <l.7 20 17% 190 65%

9/3 - 9/9 <1.5 13 24% 310 42%

9/10 - 9/13 <l.2 6.0 41% 190 66%

9/16 - 9/23 <l.2 9.0 31% 200 65%

3 9/24 - 9/26 <l.2 9.0 1 29% 260 2 52%

4 III. Weekly Low Flow Grab Samples:

Collection Total a Total B 3HHO Station Date (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l) (g Ci/l)

1. 1 Frank's Creek 5/15/78 <l.3 14 21% 800 41%

5/22 <l.4 7 34% 700 47%

1 3/30 <l.9 8 32% 600 57%

6/5 <3 13 26% 800 42%

.6/12 <5 22 23% 900 38%

6/20 <3 . 12 28% 500 58%

6/26 14 80% 24 29% 900 36%

5/1/79 <l.5 5.0 46% 480 32%

5/7 <l.6 5.0 47% 400 38%

)

5/15 <l.5 0.0 32% 320 48%

5/21 <l.7 4.0 57% 410 37%

5/28 <l.7 7.0 38% 210 72%

6/4 <2 8.0 33% 500 60%

6/11 <2 1.0 26% <300 7/2 <l.6 12 28% 900 45%

8/6 <3.0 19 18% <200 9/7 si.5 12 25% <120 9/17 <1 6.0 43% 140 90%

9/24 <1.1 900 31% 220 58%-

r 102 i

I

l l

l 1

I TABLE 13 (continued).

III. Weekly Low Flow Grab Samples: (continued) 3 Collection Total a Total S HP9 Station Date (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l)

1. 2 Lagoon Road 5/1/78 <6 1210 4% 78000 3%

5/8 <7 1210 4% 59000 3%

5/15 <4 820 4% 43700 4%

5/22 <6 1280 4% 51700 3%

5/30 <4 870 4% 77000 3%

6/5 <3 790 4% 68000 3%

6/12 <4 1230 4% 19000 4%

6/20 <4 1050 4% 11700 5%

6/26 <4 1690 t 4% 15400 5%

5/1/79 <40 1550 9% 34300 5%

5/9 <40 1790 8% 46000 4%

5/15 <11 88 22% 32400 5%

5/21 <40 890 12% 6500 12%

5/28 <30 1230 10% 23400 6%

6/4 <30 1740 8% 47000 6%

6/11 <30 1170 10% 16100 11%

6/18 <30 1470 9% 38000 6%

6/25 <30 970 11% 12400 13%

7/3 <18 1140 10% 11500 9%

7/9 <16 930 11% 14700 8%

7/16 <16 1170 10% 16300 7%

7/24 <16 910 12% 14400 8%

8/6 <20 740 12% 9400 9%

8/20 <20 650 13% 6900 12%

9/7 <30 1300 9% 12600 9%

9/17 <30 1290 9% 27100 6%

9/24 <20 1220 10% 32300 5%

1. 4 Swamp 5/15/78 <3 27 16% 1900 21%

5/22 <3 34 14% 1600 23%

i 103 l

TABLE 13 (continued).

IV.

Storm and Miscellaneous Grab Samples:

Collection Total a Total 8 3 Station Date HHO (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l)

1. 1 Prank's Creek 1/24/78 * <1.9 5 59% 700 49%

2/13 *

<l.8 8 36% <400 2/20 *

<l.9 5 52% <400 2/28 *

<1.9 6 51% 500 61%

l l

3/9 *

<l.9 6 46% <400 3/13 *

<1.8 7 44% 700 47%

3/14 *

<l.9 8 46% 400 84%

4/3 *

<l.6 6 44% 280 89%

5/5 + <2 9 39% 600 60%

5/9 + <3 13 33% 500 70%

9/14/79 0910 hr.+<3 16 31% 560 24%

1215 hr. <2 13 20% 140 90%

1405 hr. <l.4 80 26% <120 1530 hr. <1.2 7.0 29% <120 9/15 + <l.3 7.0 29% 150

1. 2 Lagoon 83%

Road 1/24/78* <l.9 5.0 59% 700 49%

3/3 + <5 730 5% 61000 3%

3/14 *

<2 130 8% 8100 6%

5/5 + 18 83% 590 6% 6400 7%

6/21 + <40 1070 11% 1300 25%

9/14/79+ 0900 hrs. 80 70% 300 24% 1800 11%

1200 hrs. 70 75% 280 26% 1290 15%

1355 hrs. <20 180 35% 2500 9%

1700 hrs. <20 260 27% 5800 14%

9/15+ <19 730 13% 10200 9%

11/28/79 + <13 470 16%

12/17/79 * <20 1770 8%

1. 3 Bucket 1/25/78 * <4 107 3/13

• 9% 3700 11%

50 78% 2200 3/14

• 5% 4000 10%

<20 200 17% 3700 5/9 + 11%

<18 600 9% 10300

1. 4 Swamp 3/14/78 + <3 5%

26 19% 1600 22%

4/3 + <3 22 19% 1300 5/9 + 21%

<4 41 16%

9/14/79+ 0903 hrs. 1400 21%

<1.3 6.3 31% 280 1205 hrs. 47%

<1.3 6.3 31% 190 1400 hrs. 67%

<l.2 6.3 31% 320 1655 hrs. 41%

<l.3 9.0 24% 210 58%

11/20/79 T <l.9 27 23% 620 22%

12/14/79 T <2 19 17%

Sub-ice flow grab

+ Storm runoff grab T Subsurface flow grab 104

TABLE 13 (continued).

V. Background Grab Samples:

Collection Total a Total 6 3HHO Station Date (p Ci/1) (p Ci/l) (p Ci/l)

Buttermilk 5/18/78 <2 <3 500 69%

Creek 5/25 <1.8 <2 400 94%

5/31 <l.9 <2 <400 6/7 <2 <2 500 69%

6/15 <2 <2 <400 6/22 <2 9 84% <400 6/27 <2 <2 <400

<2 <l50 5/4/79 <l.7 3 79% <300 6/1 <2 6/7 <2 32 75% <300 8/10 <1.4 2.4 67% <160 9/19 9 68% 14 22% 210 59%

Connoisarauley 5/18/78 <2 6 47% <200 Creek 5/25 <2 <2 <400 5/31 <3 <2 <400 t 6/7 <3 <2 <400 6/15 <2 <2 500 75%

6/22 <2 <2 500 69%

6/27 <2 3 93% <400-5/4/79 <2 <2 240 61%

6/1 <2 <2 <300 6/7 <2 3 70% <300 8/10 <l.6 2.5 66% 250 58%

9/19 <2 -7 180 68%

VI. Sediment Grab Samples:

Collection Total a Total S Station Date (p Ci/g) (p Ci/g) 29.0 24%

1. l Frank's Creek 5/4/79 19.0 64%

37.0 6/7/79 33.0 50% 19%

33.0 46% 32.0 23%

8/7/79 102.0 11%

1. 2 Lagoon Road 5/4/79 19.0 66%

6/7/79 26.0 55% 120.0 11%

30.02 51% 109.0 11%

8/7/79 105

_ - _ _ _ _ _ . -- .- - - - _ -. . . . _ = _ _ _ _ - . . -_ _. . -. . - - . . _

1 TABIE 14 Radionuclide Concentrations (p Ci/1) in Surface Water.

(all sanples collected at Iagoon Ibad)

Collection 'Ibtal Total C-14 C-14 Date Alpha Beta 3 HHO Inorganic Organic Na-22 Fe-55 Co-60 Ni-63 Sr-90 I-129 '

5/1/78 * <50 1120 4% 86000 3% 3.6 32% 2.8 16% <19 -

<19 <8 - --

5/1/78 + <6 .1210 4% 78000 3% 8.8 23% <0.5 <50 <4 <60 6.0 56% 780 5% --

5/8/78 * <70 1160 4% 42000 4% <1 3.6 8% <17 <2 <19 <3 - -

5/8/78 + <7 1210 4% 59000 3% 103.0 7% 4.9 18% <50 <4 <60 10.0 34% 610 6% -

5/30/78 * <40 1560 6% 69000 3% <7 15.0 22% <50 <6 <50 <10 - - '

5/1/79 + <40 1550 9% 34300 5% <3 <l.7 <4 220 <3 7.0 66% 1040 3% <3 5/7/79 * <40 .1410 9% 37200 5% <0.9 6.3 24% <8 <20 8.0 60% 7.0 70% 1060 3% <3 5/7/79 + <40 1790 8% 46000 4% 2.2 44% 4.0 12% <4 <16 <3 7.0 69% 1080 13% <3 5/21/79 * <40 1620 9% 34000 5% 10.0 33% 1.6 76% <3 <40 <2 <5 850 3% <5 i 6/4/79 + <30 1740 8% 47000 6% 2.0 33% 3.0 14% <4 <19 <3 <5 910 3% <2 6/18/79 + <30 1470 9% 38000 6% 1.0 82% 2.2 60% <4 <13 <3 6.0 67% 850 3% <2 9/17/~'9 + <30 1290 9% 27100 6% 1.6 80% 7.0 9% <3 <17 <2 650 3% <2 9/24/79 * <40 1320 9% 19500 7% <l.5 3.0 33% <3 <40 <4 6.0 85% 630 3% <l.6

• Caposite

+ Iow Flow. Grab i Not yet reported

TABLE 14 Radioruclide Concentration 3(p Ci/l) in Surface Water. (Continued)

(all samples collected at Lagoon Poad)

Pu-239, Collection U-235 U-238 Pu-238 240 Am-241 On-244 Date Ba-133 Cs-134 Cs-137 U-234

<20 <19 - - - <0.14 <0.2 - --

5/1f78 * <30

<70 <50 <50 - - - <2 <0.07 -- -

5/1/78 +

<20 <19 <19 - - -

<0.17 <0.04 - --

5/8/78 *

<80 <60 <50 - - -

11.2 9% 0.03 188% - -

5/8/78 +

<50 <40 - - - <6 <l.2 -

5/30/78 * <60

<4 <3 <3 - -

2.9 20% <5 <5 <0.2 <0.06 o

w 5/1/79 +

<8 <7 1.3 62% 2.7 22% 0.11 92% 2.1 23% <0.015 <0.015 0.34 57% <0.04 5/7/79

• 2.0 167% 3.0 27% <0.04 2.7 28% <0.2 <0.3 <0.2 <0.06 5/7/79 + <4 <3

<3 <3 4.0 50% 3.4 19% 0.12 81% 2.7 20% 0.3 82% <0.03 I 5/21/79 *

<3 2.4 30% 0.26 82% 1.7 139% <0.4 <0.5 <0.1 <0.04 6/4/79 <4 <3

<0.014 2.1 23% <0.07 <0.07 i i 6/18/79 + <4 <3 <3 2.5 21%

<0.02 2.2 30% <0.9 <0.9  %  %

9/17/79 + <3 <2 <3 2.4 29%

13.0 38% i i  % 2.1 177% <0.03 1.2 140% <0.04 9/24/79 * <4 <3

• Cortposite

+ Im Flow Grab

% Not yet reported

TABLE 15 .

Radiochemical Analyses of Barnstead Cation-Anion Mixed Bed Ion Exchange Colunn Resins Station / Sample Collection Filtrate Cs-134 Description Cs-137 Ru-106 Zr-95 Co-60 Ba-133 Date Volume (1) (pCi/kg) (pCi/kg) Na-22 (pCi/kg) (pCi/kg) (pCi/kg) (pCi/kg) (pCi/kg) l l

No. 1 Im flw grabs 8/15/77-9/24/79 61.69 -

<6 <20 <12 -- - -

No. 2 Im flw grabs 8/15/77-9/24/79 85.26 <3x10-6 <1. 3x10-5 <1,4x10-4 < 6 x10-5 <3x10-6 <3x10-6 <3x10

-6 No. 4 Im flw grabs 8/15/'/7-9/18/78 13.31 --

<7 <30 <13 - - -

H Buttermilk Creek at Fox Valley Rd.

Background grab 8/15/77-9/19/79 59.61 --

<7 <20 <10 -- - -

Connoisarauley I Creek at Connoisarauley Rd.

Back 8/14/77-9/19/79 59.09 --

<7 <30 <11 -- - -

{

l

l I

APPENDIX C RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSES FOR WATER AND SOIL SAMPLES 109

Because of the small size of the samples analyzed, many of the water and soil samples were done in sequence on the same aliquot.

For example, isotopic uranium, isotopic plutonium, and iron-55 were all done from the same aliquot. All analyses were done by the Radiological Sciences Laboratory, N.Y. State Department of Health, Albany, New York.

Total Alpha / Beta Analysis--An aliquot of a water sample was evaporated to dryness and the residue was quantitatively trans-ferred to a planchet . An aliquot of soil or sediment sample was mixed with distilled water and a portion of the mixture  ;

was evaporated to dryness in a planchet . Sediment samples 1 collected on filters were placed directly onto the planchet Not more than 100 mg. of sample residue can be measured for total alpha / beta.

The sample planchets were counted on a gas flow proportional counter. The sample planchets were counted first on the j alpha / beta plateau then on the alpha plateau.

The method is only adequate for screening purposes. Loss of y volatile radionuclides such as radiciodine, tritium, and carbon-14 is one problem. Another drawback is the difficulty in radio-metric standardization for a mixture of unknown alpha and beta emitters.

The radionuclides used as standards in the laboratory are:

for total beta - 90 Sr 90 7 for total alpha - natural uranium.

Analysis of Tritium as HHO--Samples were vacuum distilled and the distillate collected to separate tritium from other inter-fering radionuclides and to remove chemical and/or physical quenching agents. An aliquot of the distillate was mixed with an organic scintillator and counted in a liquid scintillation spectrometer. Water known to be of low tritium content was used as a background sample.

The degree of quenching in a sample was determined by external standardization. The quench factor obtained was used to determine the counting efficiency for calculation of the tritium activity in the sample. Analysis of a 10 ml aliquot of the distillate resulted in a sensitivity of approximately 500 p Ci/1.

The Radiological Sciences Laboratory has three levels of tri-tium detection: 2 x 10-6 uCi/ml is the standard analysis 11-mit of detection; a 2x10-7 pCi/ml limit of detection can be obtained only if ten times more sample is available; a 2x10-8 pCi/ml limit of detection is a much more expensive process in-

> volving enrichment of the sample. In these studies the enriched tritium technique was considered too expensive for the addi-tional benefit derived.

110

, ,. m - - -

AnalysisofDissolvedOrganicTritium--InthigHHOandmetalprocedure necessary to separate the inorganic tritium (

it is hydroxides) from the organic material. Fifty ml of filtered, anoxic trench water was aerated and filtered to remove metal hydroxides such as Fe(OH) 3 The filtered water was then acidi-fied to pH 1 with hcl. The acidified trench water was lyophylized, redissolved in low-tritium, double-distilled water and lyophylized a second time. The residue was dissolved in 50 ml of low-tritium, double-distilled water and 10 ml were taken for liquid scintillation measurement of the dissolved organic tritium. The interference from carbon-14 in the dissolved organic material was relatively small and could be corrected for.

Analysis of Suspended Organic Tritium--Approximately 3.5 liters of trench water was anoxically filtered using a glass fiber '

filter. The filter was dried. The weight of material reclaimed by the filter, however, could not be determined. A portion of l

j the filter was combusted using a wet combustion procedure to l

oxidize the carbon to CO2 and the hydrogen to H2 0. The CO2 l was purged from the combustion mixture and 10 ml of water was removed by distillation. The tritium in the distilled water was then measured using liquid scintillation counting.

Isotopic-Plutonium Analysis- 242Pu was added to an aliquot of the samples to determine the chemical and electrodeposition recovery. The samples were evaporated to dryness and the residue was dissolved in 7.2 N HNO3 Soil samples were fused.

Silicates were removed and the sample was dissolved in 7.2 N HNO3-Plutonium was oxidized to the (IV) valence state with sodium nitrite and the plutonium nitrate complex formed in the strong nitric acid solution was adsorbed on an anion exchange column.

The column was washed with HNO3 and hcl solutions, then the plutonium was eluted with a 0.36 N hcl 0.01 N HF solution.

Plutonium was electrodeposited from an ammonium sulphate solution onto a stainless steel disc.

The electroplated disg samples were counted on an alphaspectrometry system using a 450 mm silicon surface barrier detector. The systems amplifier was biased to cover an energy range of about 4 MeV to 6 MeV.

The net cpm in each region were calculated and the values if correctedforingggferencefromhigherenergyalphapeaks, necessary. The Pu and the 239, 40Pu activity levels were then calculated by applying the appropriate chemical recovery and counting efficiency factors.

111

Isotopic-Uranium Analysis-- U was added as a tracer to determine the c.iemical and electrodeposition recovery. Water samples were evaporated to dryness and the residue was dissolved in 7.2 N HNO Soil samples were fused. Silicates were removed and the sample 3*

l was dissolved in 7.2 N HNO 3' i

! Uranium and plutonium were oxidized to the (IV) valence state I

with sodium nitrite. The plutonium nitrate complex formed in

.the stro.ig nitric acid solution was removed on an anion ex-change column. The effluent was evaporated to dryness, taken

up in 9 N hcl and the uranium chloride complex adsorbed on an anion-exchange column. Iron was removed from the column with a solution of 9 N hcl - 0.25 M.NH4 I. The uranium was then eluted with 1.2 N hcl and electroplated onto a stainless steel disc from an amnEnium sulphate solution.

The electroplated disc samp j metrysystemusinga450mm}eswerecountedonanalphaspectro-silicon surface barrier detector.

The system's amplifier was biased.to cover an energy range of about 4 MeV to 6 Mev.

The net cpm in each region were calculated and the values cor-rectedforinter{ggencefggghigherenergyalphapeaks, necessary. The U and if U activity levels were then cal-culated by applying the appropriate chemical recovery and

l. counting efficiency factors.

241 Am Analysis- 243Am was added to an aliquot of the sample

to determine the chemical and electrodeposition recovery.

Water. samples were evaporated to dryness and the residue was 2

dissolved in 7.2 N HNO Soil samples were fused. Silicates i were removed and the sdm.ple was dissolved in 7.2 N HNO

- 3'

Uranium and plutonium were oxidized to the (IV) valence state with sodium nitrite. The plutonium nitrate complex formed in i the strong nitric acid solution was removed on an anion-exchange column. The effluent was evaporated to dryness, taken up in 9 N hcl and the uranium chloride complex adsorbed on an anion exchange column. The effluent was collected for separation of americium. Iron was removed from the column i with a solution of 9 N hcl - 0.25 M NH 4I, and the solution i

! was combined with the effluent just previous to being used for the americium separation. The combined solution was evaporated to dryness and iodine was oxidized with HNO The residue was dissolved in 0.5 N hcl. Americium is then 3 separated i

from the alkaline earths and Iron by successive AG50W-X4 cation exchange columns in 0.5 N HCL. - The americium is further purified by an AGl-X2, 1 M HNO 3'- 90% CH OH 3 ion exchange system.

1 I

i l

t 112

The final eluent was taken to dryness and the americium was

' electroplated from an ammonium sulphate solution onto a stain-less steel disc.

The electroplated disc samples werg counted on an alpha-spectrometry system using a 450 mm silicon surface-barrier detector. The system's amplifier was biased to cover an l energy range of about 4 MeV to 6 MeV.

The net cpm in each region was calculated. The 241 Am acti-i vity was then calculated applying the appropriate chemical

- recovery and counting efficiency factors.

Isotopic Gamma Analysis--The liquid or solid samples, in a standardized geometry, were analyzed with a Ge(Li) detector system. The system utilized a 4096-channel analyzer with an energy calibration of 0.5 kev / channel.

The activity of each gamma-emitting radionuclide in the sample was determined by using the efficiency factor for the photo-peak of the isotope. The efficiency was obtained from a gamma ray efficiency curve, prepared by measuring selected standards, in the standardized geometry, and using their known gamma ray ers intensitiestodegggmineggoton0 Th, Ru, 6 Co, 54 n, *$b , amma M K and em 22Na.

analyzed include 63 Ni Analysis--Nickel was isolated from water samples by forming nickel dimethylglyoximate which was extracted into chloroform. Nickel carrier, measured spectrophotometrically, was used to determine the chemical recovery. The nickel di-methylglyoximate wa53decolorized with hydrochloric acid and the 67-kev beta of Ni counted on a liquid scintillation spectrometer.

l Fe Analysis--If the iron content of the sample was low, then i stable iron was added as a carrier to determine chemical 1

recovery. If the iron concentration in the sample was suffi-cient, the iron originally present was used to determine the i chemical recovery. Water samples were evaporated to dryness and the residue dissolved in a 50% acetone-water solution.

The sample was then passed through a chromatographic column containing AG50W-X8 cation-exchange resin which has been equilibrated with 50% acetone-water solution. The Fe (III) was eluted with 80% acetone - 0.5 M hcl solution. The iron was electrodeposited from a NH H42 PO -(NH 4 ) 42CO 3 s lution onto l

113

a polished copper disc, and the 5.9 kev x-ray was then measured with an intrinsic-germanium detector.

90 Sr Analysis- 85Sr tracer and stable strontium were added to the sample. The 85 Sr tracer was used to radiometrically determine the chemical recovery of strontium, while the stable strontium provided a carrier. Water samples were acid digested and the strontium precipitated as the carbonate.

Soil samples were fused, silicates and iron were removed, and the strontium was precipitated as the oxalate then converted to the oxide.

The carbonate or the oxide from the sample pretreatment was dissolved in nitric acid. The rare earths, ruthenium and any remaining calcium were removed by precipitation of strontium nitrate from concentrated HNO3. Yttrium carrier was added. Thechemicggrecoveryofstrontiumwasdetermined by gamma counting the SrtracerusgggaNaIdetector.

sample was set aside 10-14 days for Y ingrowth.

The At the end of the ingrowth period, yttrium was precipitated as the hydroxide, purified by repeated extractions into TBP and back-extractions into water. Yttrium was collected as the hydroxide, reprecipitated as the oxalate, converted to the oxide, and mounted on a filter-paper disc. The yttrium recovery was determined gravimetrically. The yttrium oxide was mounted on a nylon planchet and counted in an end-window, gas-flow proportional counter.

Three or more measurements, beginning immediately after the chemicalseparationofyttriumfromstrontiumandconggnuing at approximately two-day intervals, were made on the Y fraction in order to fo low its decay. A computer program, usingthehalf-lifeofgOYasaknown,performedaleast-squares-fit to the counting data to calculate the 90 Sr activity.

134 Cs and 137 Cs Analysis by Counting Cesium Chloroplatinate--

Cesium carrier is added to the sample to determine gravi-metrically the chemical recovery. Soil samples are fused and the melt dissolved in water.

Water samples or the solution from fused samples are adjusted to pH 1 using hydrochloric acid. AMP is added to adsorb

! cesium and remove it from solution. The cesium loaded AMP l

is dissolved in NH4 0H and reprecipitated using HNO 3 The cesium, collected from the sample on the AMP, is purified by cation exchange. The cesium is precipitated as cesium chloroplatinate, Cs 2 PtC1 6'

114

134Cs is determined by 8/y coincidence counting of the pre-cipitate. 137C s is determined by S counting the-precipitate and subtracting the 134Cs contribution.

.- 14C Analysis. Water and soil samples were analyzed for inorganic and total (inorganic + organic) 14C activity.

To measure the inorganic 14C activity in water, the sample is placed in a flask and sodium carbonate carrier is added. The flask in then attached to a gas flow system and helium is bubbled through the sample. Hydrochloric or phosphoric acid is added to the sample and the carbon in the form of carbonate is evolved as CO 2. The CO2 is carried with the helium through a liquid nitrogen cold trap which retains the CO 2. The CO2 is then passed through a chromatograph for purification and the 14C activity is measured using internal gas proportional counting tubes.

To measure the' total 14C activity in a water sample potassium hydrogen phthalate carrier is added and potassium persulfate is added as an oxidizing agent. The sample with carrier and oxidizer is attached to the gas flow system, helium is bub-bled through the sample and phosphoric acid is added. The sample is then heated to boiling and the evolved CO2 is trapped, purified, and the 14C activity measured as des-cribed above.

Carrier, either inorganic or organic, is not added to samples containing carbon sufficient to produce more than about 5 cc of CO2-Soil samples are treated in a similar manner. Several grams of fine)y ground soil are placed in a flask containing about 100 ml of distilled water. To measure the inorganic 14C activity the soil-water mixture is placed in the gas flow system, helium is bubbled through the mixture and hydrochloric acid is added. The evolved cog is trapped, purified and the 14C activity measured as described for the water analysis.

To measure the total 14C activity in a soil sample potassium dichromate is added to the soil-water mixture and the flask is attached to the gas flow system. Helium is bubbled through the sample and a digestion mixture of concentrated sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid is added. The sample mixture is then heated tg4C boiling and the evolved CO2 is trapped, puri-activity measured as described previously.

fled and the

.- 129I Analysis. Stable iodine carrier was added to the sample to determine the chemical recovery. Samples were treated to convert all iodine in the sample to a common oxidation state prior to chemical separation and purification.

115

Water samples were taken through an oxidation-reduc' ion step using hydroxylamine hydrochloride and sodium bisulfite to convert all iodine to iodide form suitable for processing through an anion exchange column.

Iodine, as the iodide, was concentrated by adsorption on an I anion exchange column. Following a Nacl wash, the iodine was eluted with sodium hypochlorite. Iodine, as iodate, was re-duced to elemental iodine for extraction into CCl 4 The iodice was reduced to iodide for back-extraction into water and finally precipitation as palladium iodide.

Chemical recovery of the added carrier was determined gravime-trically.

The PdI2 precipitate was counted on an intrinsic-germanium detector and the intensities of the Ka X-rays from the 129Xe measured. The detector is standardized for 129I as a function of the weight of the PdI2 precipitate. The Ka X-rays at 29.7 and 29.4 kev for 129 Xe are used.

The counts in the 129 1 region were summed. The net counting rate was computed. The appropriate decay, volume, counting efficiency and chemical 129 recovery corrections were then ap-plied to compute the I activity.

.--Analysis of Stable Iodine.

Spectrophotometric Method- To determine the chemical recovery, 131I tracer is added to the sample. After pH adjustment and filtering, all of the iodine present is converted to a common oxidation state.

The iodine is separated from the sample by anion exchange, and is purified by solvent extraction into carbon tetrachloride.

then extracted intoThetoluene.

iodine is back extracted, reduced to I2 and An alicuot of the final toluene extract is gamma counted to measure the 131 I tracer which yields the chemical recovery. Using a Beckman Spectrophotometer and the remainder of the final toluene extract, the absorbance at 500 nm is measured. The stable iodine concentration is cal-culated and per unit volume.corrected for chemical losses, and reported as mg Specific Ion Electrode Method- Iodide ion was measured by the standard addition, using an Orion 94-53A iodide electrode, an ,

Orion 90-01 single junction reference electrode and a Beckman pHasar I-(pH) meter. Samples were made in 0.lM NANO 3 Because the sample was collected-from a reducing environment and readings were unstable, the sample from Research Trench II was made in 116

0.01 M NaHSO3. Results were obtained by solvina the ecuation:

V std

{Istd }

^

(Ysample + Ystd) (Inv. log 10 ) - sample Y std = Volume of Standard where V sample = Volume of Sample A E = Change in the potential charge.

By using the specific iodide ion electrode mentioned above, the iodine concentration of the sample was determined.

117

APPENDIX D RE._2 ARCH TRENCH AND TRENCH CAP SAMPLING DATA 119

SAMPLES COLLECTED AUGUST 15, 1979 FROM RESEARCH TRENCH III Research-trench III is approximately 23 meters x 39 meters, i major axis oriented NW - SE. Original excavation depth 13+

4 meters, depth to surface of water covering trench floor is approximately 6.3 meters.

Sample #1  !

Vertical sample removed from floor of level 2, west face, south end of trench.

17" driven 15" recovered Penetrometer (TGP):

3.25 3.50 Sample #2 I

Horizontal sample removed from level 1 wall (west face) 15.5 meters from south end of trench, 1.3 meter below land surface.

i Brown weathered t. 1.

t 16" driven '

12" recovered Penetrometer (TSF):

4.50 4.50 -

Sample #3

}

Vertical sample removed from south ramp, approximately 1.5 j meter above water covering trench floor.

I i

20" driven 15" recovered Penetrometer (TSF):

2.50 2.50 Sample #4

' Vertical sample removed from not :t ramp, approximately 2.1 meters above water covering trench floor.

20" driven 17" recovered 4

Penetrometer (TSF):

2.25 2.50

'120 s

., ,.. . _ . - . _ . __m _ - - , - - - , .

r s

Sample #5 Vertical sample removed from level 2 floor (east face) north-ern end of trench.

16.5"* driven 12" recovered Penetrometer (TSF) :

3.50

- 3.50 3.50 Sample #6 i Horizontal sample removed from west face, near south end of i trench, approximately 1 meter above water covering trench floor.

' 16" driven 14" recovered

' Penetrometer (TSF) :

2.25 2.25 2.25 4-4 ADDITIONAL DATA i

Slump material In Situ penetrometer (TSF) :

l.50 1.20 0.25

0.75 Tor vein (TSF)

0.2 0 .' l O.2-1 4

121 4

e - - - # . , , . _ . . ,

i CORE SAMPLES COLLECTED AUGUST 15, 1979 FROM TRENCH CAPS Sample #7 Vertical sample removed 15 feet north of sump 14N on center line.

18" driven 18" recovered Sample #8 Vertical sample removed 12 feet south of south monument on trench 12 on center line.

16" driven 16" recovered Penetrometer (TSF) :

4.50 Sample #9 Vertical sample removed from trench 9, 25 feet south of per-pendicular to sump 10N.

15" driven 15" recovered Sample #10 <

Vertical sample removed 125 feet south of north monument, center line, trench 11. on 15" driven 14" recovered Sample #11 Vertical sample removed 15 feet south of south monument, center line, trench 3. on 21" driven )

20" recovered 122 L-_______________

I APPENDIX E SOIL CLASSIFICATION TERMINOLOGY I. Burmeister Classification II. Unified Soil Classification J

123

~ ~ _ . ~- ..- - - - -- .

k f

4 BURMEISTER SOIL CLASSIFICATION TERMINOLOGY *

, . Soil Components based on Sieve Size 5

c_ . Gravel - coarse (3" to 1")

I

- medium l (l" to 3/8")  !

! Sand

- fine (3/8" to #10) coarse (#10 to #30)

- medium (#30 to #60)

Silt or Clay-Silt -

- fine (#60 to #200)

(< #200)

Identification of <#200 Soil based on Plasticity Index (PI) '

Silt - PI = 0 Clayey Silt - PI = 1 to 5

' . Silt-&' Clay - PI = 5 to 10 Clay & Silt - PI = 10 to 20 Silty Clay - PI = 20 to 40 Clay - PI = > 40 Component Proportions a 4'

j

,and. - 35 to 50% by weight

,some- - 20 to 35% by weight i

,little- - 10 to 20% by weight

' , trace. -

1 to 10% by weight and, - 50 to 65% by weight **

' some, - 65 to 80% by weight **

little, - 80 to 90% by weight **

trace, - 90 to 99% by weight ** ,

l Notes:

/ 1. + or - supe'rscripts indicate the upper or lower limits i of a proportion.

2. Predominant component (> 50% of sample) is written in

[ capital letters.

i

-Based upon procedures outlined by D.M. Burmeister "Special' Procedures for Testing Soil and Rock for Engi-neering' Purposes", (Fifth Edition), Special Technical

• • Publication 479, ASTM, 1970, pp. 311-323.

Used only in 3 component soils when sand does not ,

predominate.

l l

124

ASTM Soil Classification System (Unified)

G*oup Typ: cal Class;fication Criteria Major Divisions Symbols Names c3 C, = Dgo/Dio Greater than 4 Well graded gravets and jj e GW g ovel. sand mixtures, CE 301,'

little or no fines Cr " g(DfG etwB en 1 and 3

.c .2 e

g

. .o

• u6 Poorly graded gravets and -:s5oo, f o * *, E o Not meeting both criteria for GW a y* { $Z GP gravel sand mixtures, 20f g *,c little or no fines g,o c . 3, e, o o3o ,

~

g :f g} gi Atterberg limits plot below "A" tine Atterberg limits plotting

• f fjj Z

$!{

o u; T, x g GM Sif fV gravels, Gravel. sand-sitt mixtures v c c co :.

g ,3 or plasticity index less than 4 in hatched erca are bordtthe e clamf acations y g (3 .c Atterberg limits plot above "A" fine requermg use of dual p .g - y 5 u,c. GC Clayey gravets, gravel-sand-g ,ga,{ g and plasticity inden greater than 7 symbols clay mixtures ,

[i, -.@..;

aao>

!g 2 g 8. 7, Cu " U30 /D io Greater than 6 Well greded sands and e SW gravelty sands, o"o8 3

[ 2* jj C:* p(D 10o)2 *b ""

C3 , ef little or no fenes 5 # ", *C

• :2 2Z e U "5 Poorty grcded sands and gravefly Not meeting both criteria for SW tJ

{o 2ee. 3p E%!

Ut

, sands, fitt e or no fines ec,a et #

eo E Auhg Umin plot below "A" Une Auerbug Ms Wouing SM Silty sands, send sitt mixtures or plasticity inden less thart 4 m batched area are

• gg =

2 ,c cg 5* -E' , bordertene classifications c' u g .

yf Atterberg mits p*6t abnve "A" fine . requirirg use of dual E SC Clayey sands, sand-clay mixtures and plasticity index greater than 7 . symbols Inorgonic silts.very fine so ,

/

et Asvect7v ce+4a r l ML sands, rock f'our, sitty or /

, F. c A ace nr. er -.a clayey fonts sands se . .oo. .ao n .m.u ..

.e w.,.

. -g* e e

U [ ~g f r organic clays of low to

"....".*i.'..'.~.. .m O.- j /.

,,, 8 2es 5 >e CL m'"", m "' 5'ici'v clays sandy S'*vcY clays, sitty  ;.. .... - . . * . . .

.i-ace = = e' do i.. .

a a4+

7

=g = .g o I r %-a .e a i.a. /

clays, lean clays o -

y' y *

J* - re - o rsia so, f

' OrSmic siits a d organic f30 /

y OL s;1ty clays of Icw clasticity i /

i ; ,

g u

-n IO f , g>

MH Inorganic silts, mic3ccous or vliatomaceous fine sands

[ {,g ra ;r, g ,@

u- E q

_e or salts,_.cLr, tic..sitts , ,/

l}

[*, ]$E-

[DWf inorganic claysof high 4 j j}f gg ptasticity, fat clays e e,o ro so go wo ao so g .y3 - o io to ao

-:: J g

" Onen# ctays of med.um tii OH to hign pt.isticity Peat, et uc' n ,and other highly Vimal.Menoa! Identification, see ASTH. Designation D 2433.

Highly Organic Soils PT organic r.oi is Dawd on the matorial pas ino the 3 in. (75 mm.lsleve.

l

~

l APPENDIX F RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSES OF SUB-TRENCH CORES (Collected 12/77, Analyzed 1979-80) 127 s

Table 16. Radiochenical analyses of tritiated water, total carbon-14, and stmntiun-90. ,

3mo

'Ibtal C-14 Sr-90 Trench / Hole / Core Depth (m) (pCi/ml) (pCi/g soil) (pCi/g soil) 4 4A 1 9.70- 9.74 6.26E-03 +3% <2.9 E-07 <1 E-07 4 4A 1 9.74- 9.79 6.24E-03 T3% 6.1 E-07 + 74% <I. 4E-07 4 4A 1 9.79- 9.83 5.68E-03 T3%

<l.lE-07 4 4A 1 9.83- 9.88 5.74E-03 T3% -

<l.lE-07 4 4A 1 9.88- 9.92 5.79E-03 T3%

4

<l.3E-07 4A 1 9.92- 9.98 4.62E-03 T3%

4

<l.4E-07 4A 1 9.98-10.03 4.58E-03 T3%

4

<l.2E-07 4A 2 10.06-10.21 2.40E-03 T3% 5.4 E-07 + 59% -

4 4A 2 10.21-10.33 1.38E-03 T3% 5.6 E-07 I 64% -

4 4A 2 10.33-10.45 9.0 E-04 T3% 3.2 E-07 7 75% -

4 4A 3 10.71-10.83 1.09E-04 T4% 4.9 E-07 I 69% -

4 4A 4 11.26-11.38 <3 E 12.9E-07[28% -

5 2D 2 9.16- 9 28 1.43E-01 +3%

5 9.4 E-07 + 27% -

2D 4 9.77- 9.89 1.37E-02 T3% 4.2 E-07 I 46% -

5 2D 5 10.35-10.47 5.68E-04 T3% <5 E-07 -

5 2D 7 10.88-10.94 1.95E-05[6% <5 E207 -

a 5 2E 1 8.21- 8.29 5.7 E-01 +37, 1.62E-05 + 6% 7.7 E-06 + 17%

5 WE 1 8.29- 8.33 6.06E-01 T3% 8.3 E-06 7 8% 1.4 E-07 I 73%

5 2E 1 8.33- 8.37 6.loE-01 T3% 9.8 E-06 T 9% 2.7 E-07 I 31%

5 2E 1 5 2E 1 8.37- S.42 6.16E-01 T3% 11.3 E-06 T 8% 3.8 E-07 I 24%

8.56- 8.59 4.19E-ol T3% 5.9 E-06 T 11% <9 E ,

5 2E 1 8.59- 8.63 4.28E-01 T3% 2.31E-06 I 19% 1.1 E-07 + 80%

5 2E 1 8.65- 8.71* 3.15E-01_T3% 9.0E-07[49% <7 E 8 1C 1 10.19-10.29 5.58E-02 +3% < 4.s E-07 <l.1E-07 8 1C 1 10.29-10.40 3.34E-02 T3% - -

8 1C 1 10.53-10.66 1.42E-02 T3% <5 E-07 -

8 1C <5 E-07 5 11.58-11.66 2.16E-04 [3% -

8 2A 1 10.09-10.18 3.0 E-02 +3% 7.0 E-07 + 88% < 5 E-08 8 2A <5 E207 2 10.31-10.43 6.9E-03{3% < 3 E-08 Possible error of + 0.12 because of ompressed core. For details see Prudic, 1979 (36).-

128

Table 17. Radicchemical analyses of iodine-129, plutoniun-238, plutoniun-239, 240 and amriciun-241.

Pu-239, I-129 Pu-238 240 Am-241 Trench /lble/ Core Depth (m) (uCi/g) (uCi/g) * (pCi/g)* (pCi/g)*

4 4A 1 9.70- 9.74 < 7 E-08 1.4 E-08 + 61% <4 E-09 -

4 4A 1 9.74- 9.79 <l.2E-07 < 2 E <2 E-10 -

4 4A 1 9.79- 9.83 - - - -

4 4A 1 9.83- 9.88 - - - -

4 4A 1 9.88- 9.92 - - - -

4 4A 1 9.92- 9.98 - - - -

4 4A 1 9. 9c' .10. 03 - - - -

4 4A 2 10.06-10.21 - - - -

4 4A 2 10.21-10. 3 - - - -

4, 4A 2 10.33-10.45 - - - -

4 4A 3 10.71-10.83 - - - -

4 4A 4 11.26-11.38 - - - -

5 2D 2 9.16- 9.28 < 3 E-08 - - -

5 2D 4 9.77- 9.89 < 3 E-08 - - -

l 5 2D 5 10.35-10.47 < 4 E-08 - - - i 5 2D 7 10.88-10.94 < 2 E-08 - - -

5 2E 1 8.21- 8.29 <1.9E-08 <l.9E-08 <6 E-10 <2 E-06 5 2E 1 8.29- 8.33 < 6 E-08 - - -

5 2E 1 8.33- 8.37 <l.2E-07 - - -

5 2E 1 8.37- 8.42 <l.7E-07 - - -

5 2E 1 8.56- 8.59 <l.0E-07 - - -

1 5 2E 1 8.59- 8.63 < 9 E-08 - - -

5 2E 1 8.65- 8.71* * < 7 E-08 - - -

8 1C 1 10.19-10.29 <l.3E-07 1.7E-08 +88% <5 E-09 -

8 1C 1 10.29-10.40 -

1.5E-08 +91% <5 E-09 7.OE-ll+75%

8 1C 1 10.53-10.66 - - - -

8 1C 5 11.58-11.66 - - - -

8 2A 1 10.09-10.18 - - - -

8 2A 2 10.31-10.43 - - - -

• g is per gram soil

• • Possible error of + 0.12 because of ccmpressed air. For details see Prudic, 1979 (36)- _

129

c Table 18. Radiochsnical analyses of uranium-234, -235, and -238.

U-234 U-235 U-238 TmncVible/Com Depth (pCi/g)** (pCi/g) (pCi/g) 4 4A 1 9.70- 9.74 5.0 E-07 +62% <3 E-09 4.0 E-07 + 64%

4 4A 1 9.74- 9.79 1.1 E-06 T23% - 3 E-08 +70% 1.4 E-06 T 22%

9.79- 9.83 4 4A 1 - -

< 3 E 4 4A 1 9.83- 9.88 - - -

4 4A 1 9.88- 9.92 - -

4 4A 1 9.92- 9.98 - - -

1 4 4A 1 9.98-10.03 - -

< 4 E-06 4 4A 2 10.06-10.21 - - -

4 4A 2 10.21-10.33 - - -

4 4A 2 10.33-10.45 - - -

! 4 4A 3 10.71-10.83 - - -

i 4 4A 4 11.26-11.38 - - -

5 2D 2 8.60- 8.63 9.0 E-07 +37% -

<1 E-08 l'.0 E-06 + 36%

5 2D 2 9.16- 9.28 - - -

5 2D 4 9.77- 9.89 - - -

5 2D 5 10.35-10.47 - - -

5 2D 7 10.88-10.94 - - -

)

e 5 2E 1 8.21- 8.29 9.0 E-07 +37% <1' E-08 1.0E-06 + 36%

5 2E 1 8.29- 8.33 - -

1.9E-06 I 83%

5 2E 1 8.33- 8.37 - -

2.4E-06 T 81%

5 2E 1 8.37- 8.42 - -

5.7E-06 T 31%

5 2E 1 8.56- 8.59 - -

1.9E-06 I 81%

5 2E 1 8.59- 8.63 - -

3.6E-06 T 50%

5 2E 1 8.65- 8.71 - -

5.lE-06 7 32%

5 2E 1 8.71- 8.73 * - -

<l.lE 5 2E 1 8.73- 8.78 * - -

<5 E-07 8 1C 1 10.19-10.29 8.0 E-07 +31% <l.3E-09 8.0E-07 + 31%

8 1C 1 10.29-10.40 9.5 E-07 T15% 2.7E-08 +49% 1.lE-06 I 14%

. 8 1C 1 10.53-10.66 - - -

8 1C 5 10.58-11.66 - - -

8 2A 1 10.09-10.18 - - -

8 2A 2 10.31-10.43 - - -

• Possible error of + 0.12 because of otxtpressed core. For details se e Prudic, 1979 (36). .

• • "g" is "per gram soil"

, 130

. . . .- - - - . ~

i APPENDIX G GEOLOGIC DESCRIPTION OF SUB-TRENCH CORES

' (4-4A, 5-2D, 5-2E, 8-lc and 8-2A)

From field notes of David E. Prudic l

l I

l l

131

Table 19 Geologic Log Core Hole 4-4A December 5-6, 1977 Land Surface Altitude . . . 423.1 meters Depth below Core -

^

land depth surface Core interval 1

, (meters) No. (meters) 9.62- (1) 9.65 0.0-0.03 Sand, chiefly very fine but ranging to medium sand at base and probably

- to coarse silt; wet, incoherent, dipping.

4 9.65- (1) 0.03-0.08 Silt, cut by one bed of fine sand 9.69 4mm thick, dipping 45

9.69- (1) 0.08-0.26 Clay or silt firm, 9.88 olive gray; includesy clay, plastic, 3 zones each 5 mm thick, all roughly parallel and dipping at 350, in which numerous parallel but discontinuous

! layers of coarse white silt each

<1 mm thick make up half of core volume.

9.88- (1) 0.26-0.29 Sand, fine to coarse, pebbly, inco-

9.91 herent, damp but not obviously saturated.

9.91- (1) 10.00 0.29-0.38 Silt, fine to coarse; one layer of i

silty pebbly very fine to coarse sand, dip parallel to those above and below at about 450, 1C mm thick.

10.00- (1) 0.38-0.41 Coarse silt, incoherent, dipping.

10.04 10.04- (2) 10.24 0.0-0.18 Clayey silt, dark olive-gray, near-ly pebble-free; interbedded with light-colored coarse silt generally arranged in discontinuous sub-horizontal irregular layers 1-2 mm thicke but one layer-nearly 15 mm thick.

132 i

Table 19 (cont ' d. )

Depth below Core land depth surface Core interval (me ters) No. (meters) 10.24- (2) 0.18-0.40 Clayey silt, dark olive gray, 10.45 nearly pebble free, very firm, interbedded with coarse silt; like unit above, except that the dis-continuous coarse silt interbeds are even more abundant, totally I

irregular in attitude, and variable laterally in thickness. One wedge of sandy pebbly brownish-gray silt, dipping at 20 , 3 mm thick.

0 I' Coarse silt, in bulbous structures; i 10.45- (2) 0.40-0.<3 10.49 core is nearly incoherent.

10.49- (3) 0.0-0.03 Coarse to fine silt, massive.

10.53 10.53- (3) 0.03-0.21 Silty clay, dark, very rare pebbles, 10.71 numerous very thin discontinuous streaks of coarse silt; one non-bedded layer of mostly coarse silt 4mm thick; one dipping layer of numerous pebbles in silty clay 15 mm thick, k,

10.71- (3) 0.21-0.46 Till, rich in silt and clay, firm, 11.60 (4) 0.0-0.43 plastic low to normal in pebble (5) 0.03-0.17 content (5-10%); two zones 11.19-11.28 m, each maximum thickness 2 cm, in which till is distinctly sandier and slightly more brown in color. Possibly some discontinuous fine silt streaks and/or partings i I

near base, difficult to recognize.

11.60- (5) 0.17-0.53 Till, rich in silt and clay like 11.96 that above but abnormally pebbly (15% estimated); firm and plastic; rare 2 mm blebs of dark clay at top.

11.96- (6) 0.08-0.19 Till, as above but normally pebbly.

12.12 133 j

Table 20 Geologic Log Core Hole 5-2D November 30-31, 1977 Land Surface Altitude . . . 422.22 Meters Depth below Core land depth surface Core interval '

(me ters) No. (meters) 8.60- (1) 0.0-0.21 Till, silt and clay-rich, more 8.81 pebbly than normal near base, very '

firm and only moderately plastic, olive-gray, unoxidized.

l Top 3 cm carries imprint of point, also some oxidized till close to top surface. From 8.61 to 8.65 m, I noted strong microlaminations at 20 angle to core, subparallel to sand lens (did not look for these below). A lens of very fine sand to coarse silt about 3 mm thick at about 8.65 m, dips at <300 angle to core, also some deformed wisps of coarse silt.

8.81- (1) 0.21-0.24 Coarse silt, top and bottom sur-8.84 faces irregular but dip at 200 angle to core.

8.84- (1) 0.24-0.27 Wedge-shaped mass of clayey silt, a 8.87 few pebbles and coarse sand (might be till, did not carefully check).

Minimum thickness, 2 cm, maximum 6 cm. Lower surface dips in opposite direction from upper sur-face.

8.87- (1) 0.27-0.30 Sand, very fine to very coarse, and 8.90 granules, slightly silty, friable.

8.90- (1) 0.30-0.32 Coarse silt interlayered with clayey 8.92 silt, layers irregular in thickness and attitude; mess-bedded.

8.92- Not cored, cuttings are lacustrine 9.02 clay, silt, sand.

134

Table 20 (cont'd.)

Depth I below Core land depth surface Core interval (meters) No. (meters) 9.02- (2) 0.08-0.12 Pebble 1 cm diam, enveloped in a 9.07 dipping wedge of silty coarse sand; bordered by silty clay with a few f pebbles and traces of bedding toward base. This material could be dis-turbed by previous drilling.

9.07- (2) 0.12-0.26 Interlayered coarse silt and fine 9.20 silt; fine silt may range to clay and coarse silt may range to very fine sand locally; a few pebbles; i

firm and seemingly dry. Layers parallel and fairly uniform in thickness but discontinuous near base. Fault, dipping at 600, cuts core 9.07-9.14 m; not presently a plane of weakness. Layers dip at about 200 9.20- (2) 0.26-0.34 Silty clay to fine silt, very firm, 9.31 beds dip at 20 0 to core, very rare pebbles or sand grains, near base, a bleb of deformed coarse white silt 20 x 5 x 10 mm (approx) .

(

9.31- (3) 0.06-0.23 Till, silt and clay rich, very 9.51 sparsely pebbly at top but increas-ing pebble content with depth, deformed wisps of silt evident throughout; core break, along irregular surface partly0 coated with coarse silt at 45 angle to core, at 0.23 m.

9.51- (3) 0.23-0.30 Till, silt and clay rich, normally 10.21 (4) 0.06-0.43 pebbly (5-10%) estimated); one bleb of brownish sandy sediment 3 x 5 mm at 9.60 m; a trace of white coarse silt at 10.06 m; strong subhorizon-tal micro-laminations. At 9.91 m, broken surface of core reveals two intersecting, steeply dipping frac-tures, not visibly open and showing 135

+f

Table 20 (cont'd.)

Depth below Core land depth ,

surface Core interval (meters) No. (meters) no chemical alteration, but still t planes of weakness along which the core could be pulled apart.

10.21- (5) 0.14-0.43 Till, like that above but more 11.96 (6) 0.15-0.35 pebbly, probably 10-15 percent; (7) 0.19-0.40 firm, plastic. One pebble 6 cm (8) 0.11-0.41 long at 10.88 m. Subhorizontal (9) 0.12-0.40 microlaminations present generally.

l

/

136

Table 21 Geologic Log Core Hole 5-2E December 9, 1977 Land Surface Altitude . . . 422.25 Meters Depth below Core land depth surface Core interval (meters) No. (meters) 7.77- - -

Soft material, probably same as 8.20 that below (interpreted from blow counts).

8.20- (1) 0.0-0.24 Disturbed till, soft and very 8.50 plastic; numerous streaks of moderate-yellowish-brown oxidized or weakly oxidized till; no sand or silt recognized; caves readily.

8.50- (1) 0.24-0.32 Till, predominantly silt and clay 8.58 with more than 10 percent small pebbles and coarse sand, plastic, olive-gray, unoxidized; with abundant thin deformed layers of coarse silt and one pod of medium to fine sand 5 mm diameter. This material is in place.

8.58- (1) 0.32-0.44 Lake beds: layers of light-gray 8.70 coarse silt to possibly very fine sand up to 2 cm thick, alternating with dark clayey silt with coarse silt partings or thin layers; beds k dipping (or possibly faulted) at substantial angle to core.

8.70- Probably lake beds, not cored.

8.90 (Note: it is possible that the till and lake beds described above are actually from the interval 8.70-8.90 m and the top of undisturbed material is at 8.70 m, but this seems less'likely).

8.90- (2) 0.02-0.17 Lake beds: chiefly fine clayey silt, 9.05 pebble free; two beds of coarser silt each 2 cm thick; upper silt bed is uniform coarse silt, has 137

Table 21 (cont'd.)

Depth below Core land depth  ;

surface Core interval (meters) No. (meters) basal fault contact at angle to core and is saturated; lower bed consists of severely distorted fine layers of coarse and l

fine l

silt, apparently dry.

9.05- (2) 0.17-0.26 9.14 Coarse silt to very fine sand, apparently dry, with minor fine clayey silt layers; layers termin-ate against fault dipping at 450 9.14- (2) 0.26-0.30 9.19 Fine clayey silt, with thin sub-horizontal layers of coarse silt and one thin layer of silt and granules.

1 138

Table 22 Geologic Log Core Hole 8-lC November 17-18, 1977 Land Surface Altitude . . . 423.18 Meters

\

Depth belaw Core land depth surface Core interval (meters) No. (meters) 10.09- (1) 0.0-0.32 Till, silt and clay rich, olive 10.63 (2) 0.0-0.10 gray, normally pebbly ( 5- 10 % ) .

Wisps of light gray coarse silt and a smaller pebble content (<3%)

below 10.52 m.

10.63- (2)- 0.10-0.29 Predominantly coarse gray silt 11.02 (3) 0.0-0.18 interbedded with thin layers of very fine gray sand, fine gray to buff sand, and olive gray clay.

The sandy unit < are clearly water-saturated. Below 10.97 m layering is lost; blobs of silt and clay give core a mottled texture. At base of interval is a thin (<.63 cm) fine brownish gray sand dipping I 250 from vertical.

• 11.02- (3) 0.18-0.23 Massive coarse gray silt; when 11.81 (4) 0.02-0.29 broken has a sugary texture.

(5) 0.01-0.38 Saturated; deforms readily and flows when shaken.

11.81- (5) 0.38-0.46 Clay, olive gray with wisps of .

12.54 (6) 0.04-0.25 coarse silt; pebbles absent. One large (about 2.54 cm in diameter) blob of very fine brownish sand or I coarse silt incorporated in the clay at 12.50 m to 12.54 m.

• More detailed description of individual layers in this interval available in field notes.

139

Table 23 Geologic Log Core Hole 8-2A November 22, 1977 Land Surface Altitude . . . 423.18 Meters Depth below Core land depth surface Core interval (meters) No. (meters) 9.96- (1) 0.03-0.28 10.24 Till, olive-gray pebbly silty clay with pebbles and coarse sand >10 percent. Pebbles generally <0.6 cm diameter; no bedding or frac-tures. One bleb of light-gray coarse silt 0.6 cm diameter near top.

10.24- (1) 0.28-0.34 Lake beds (7), sand, fine to very 10.34 (2) 0.02-0.06 fine, brownish gray, dipping slightly, 1 cm thick, at top; overlying sandy clay with rare pebbles, abundant deformed beds of coarse silt, and a few fine sand blebs.

10.34- (2) 11.67 (3) 0.06-0.40 0.02-0.21 Till; olive-gray pebbly silty clay, pebbles and coarse sand 10-15 (4) 0.02-0.24 percent; top 0.30 m is firm, with (5) 0.08-0.46 rare tiny blebs of light-gray silt; (6) 0.02-0.09 more plastic and moldable next 0.3-0.9 m, firm again below. Most j cores appear moist and saturated.

. No bedding or fractures.

11.67- (6) 0.09-0.30 11.89 Till, as above but few pebbles (5%+), also light-gray deformed silt wisps and blebs increasing from traces at top to perhaps 2 percent at base.

140

yy U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ssedh DDO Bl:LIOGRAPHIC DATA SHEET NUREG/CP-1565 4 TITLE AND SUBTITLE (Add voturne No.. of apprcynatel 2. (Leave blask)

General Investigation of Radionuclide Retention in Migration Pathways at the West Valley, New York, Low-Level Burial Site 3 RECIPIENT'S ACCESSION NO.

Final Ronnrt. netnhor 197R Fahrnary 10A0

7. AUTHOR (S) 5. DATE REPORT COMPLETED R.H. Dana, Jr., V.S. Ragan, S.A. Molello, H.H. Bailey, MONTH l YEAR R.H. Fickies, C.G., R.H. Fakundiny V.C. Hoffman. P.E. August 1980

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATlON N AME AND MAILING ADDRESS (/nclude 2,p Code / DATE REPORT ISSUED New York State Geological Survey / State Museum " ~" l New York State Education Department October 1980 8"''

Rm. 3140, C.E.C., Albany, NY 12230 8 (Leave blank l l

12. SPONSORING ORGANIZATION N AME AND MAILING ADDRESS (include 2,p Codel p

Division of Safeguards, Fuel Cycle and Environmental Research Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research ti CONTRACT NO U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 FIN No. B6008

13. TYPE OF REPORT PE RIOD COVE RE D //nclus,ve dates)

Final Report October 1, 1978 - February 14, 1980 15 SUPPLEMENTAHY NOTES 14. (Leave n/stal i

ABSTRACT (200 words or less)

This is a final report evaluating the containment capabilities of the low-level, solid radioactive waste burial ground at West Valley, New York. The investigation included a surface water study, a trench water study, geotechnical and radiochemical studies of woils, a geotechnical analysis of a research trench and analysis of subtrench core data.

Tritium is the most abundant beta emitter in trench water while strontium-90 is the predominant beta emitter in surface water. Strontium-90 ranks as the second most abundant trench water radionuclide in 6 of the 11 trenches studies.

, Four radionuclides were found to have either definite or possible migration. Carbon-14 was found to migrate at a much slower rate than' tritium, which migrated to a depth slightly greater than 3.2m below the treach flow. There is also inconclusive evidence for strontium-90 migration beneath the trenches. Plutonfum-238 was detected immediately beneath all 3 trenches studied and in 4 of the 5 trench cores. Results predicted by testing performed in 1977 were confirmed by standard engineering tests on soils from the site. Soil samples taken from the north burial area trench caps and analyzed for tritium showed approximate background levels at the surface and above background levels at depths of 20 to 50 centimeters.

' 17. KE Y WORDS AND DOCUMENT AN ALYSIS 17a DESCHIPTORS geotechnical strontium-90 radiochemical plutonium-238 tritium  !

beta emitter 17" I DE N TI F IE HS. OPE N E N DE D TE R MS gs.otechnical

18. AV AILABILITY ST ATEMENT 19 SE CURITY CLAS4 (Th<s report) 21 NO OF PAGES Unlimited nelass m ed 20 f GQt TM pa el s 22 PRlCE N RC FORM 335 (7 77)