ML20215L000
| ML20215L000 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/05/1979 |
| From: | Robertson J NRC |
| To: | Richard Perkins Battelle Memorial Institute, PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATION |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20215G205 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-87-235 NUDOCS 8706250515 | |
| Download: ML20215L000 (5) | |
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i In Reply Refer To: June 5, 1979 l t
EGS-Mail Stop 410 '
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I Mr. Richard W. Perkins Batte11e' Memorial Institute .
Pacific Northwest Laboratory
, Post' Office Box,999,, .J. ' '
.R,ichland,' Washington" 99352 Ibr Dicki 1 have looked ,over ,your 'brief description 'of proposed ' work at' Maxey
. Flats..
e Eu'd,ZeMeIaNd'I.,have given ~the slit- tirench study "a consi'derable amount of thought'. ~ Although 'we feel'its a worthwhile ' endeavor that should be
! pufsued,'a h'umber of potential problems have come to mind that might ,
l complicate the. successful completion of the experiment and interpreta- l
. tion of any! data. generated. - Jhese are explained below.
Ptirpos7 of tite study: I My uitderstanding of tite' purposes are:
i (1)'to#obtai3 data'f$om~which hydrologic conductivity of media
'between the wasteffilled trench (WFT) and' gravel-filled trench
, '(GFT) can be calculated.
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(2)to,.obtain sufficient chemical and nuclide data to enable calcu-
., lations 'of' solute' transport parameters of various nuclides. '
l .It_ would be desirable to measure the above properties for the weathered Nancy Shale, the sandstone marker bed, and the unweathered Nancy.
f
. Trench Resuisemen.ts':
'. To ic*complisit these goals, th'e boundary conditions controlling- the
! ground-water flow' system must be adequately understood. Schematic l i
representation of.possible types of flow systems which might exist are shown bBlow.. : The., boundary conditions ~are the,' position of the water-table,
. position ~ of trench walls and floors; and. "
position of permeability' changes
{ ' (bedding',p,1' a nes, fractures, etc.) .
! 8706250515 870616 1
! MINTON87-235 PDR
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, M' Condition No.1 is a simplified system which assumes a homogeneous, iso- !
tropic medium between the trenches with no component of flow below the trench floors. This system is easiest to analyze, but is unrealistic for Maxey Flats. Condition No. 2 also assumes a homogeneous. Isotropic medium, but includes a more realistic vertical component of flow. Condition No. 3 is .still more realistic by inclusion of a high penneability sandstone bed, through which more flow occurs than through the shale. This condition
(#3) is also the most difficult to design an experiment for and to analyze the results, w
As can be seen in all conditions,1 through 3, a portion of the flow entering the GFT comes from the side opposite the WFT'and, for Nos. 2 and 3, from' sones beneath the trenches. Thus, a sample of water from the GFT would be a composite of all water entering the trench. It would be difficult to relate that component to water entering only from the WFT side. One way around that problem would be to build two parallel GFT's as shwan'in condition 4. In that case, GFT-1 would receive all its flow from the WFT. However, in that case, the flow into GFT-1 would be a composite of all three media (weathered Nancy, sandstone' marker bed, and unweathered Nancy). It would be difficult to distinguish properties
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of any one unit.
One way to simplify that complication is to dig the GFT shallower,'say to the-top of the sandstone marker bed or perhaps to the bottom of the sandstone marker bed. This is where the position of the water table becomes critical. That determines whether or not water enters the GFT -
from the sandstone. marker bed. -l
This also brings to light another problem. It will probably be extreme'ly difficult to dig a straight-willed trench' through the sandstone marker '
bed. It could probably be done only with complex blasting techniques.
In spite of these potential complications, it should be possible to use the results to calculate bounds as the parameters of interest, which could be a lot more than we have now. {'
N '. $# '
Perhaps the best design would be to construct the'GFT down to the t'op of the sandstone marker bod. The top surface of the marker bed could then be carefully cleaned off to reveal position of major fractures.
Wells could then be bored through the sandstone bed at the intersection of fractures. Such wells would then be screened and cased before back-filling the trench.
The porous cups installed in the backfill material should be supplemented with tensiometers to measure the vertical moisture tension gradient in the backfill. This will yield the most definitive' evidence that water is not moving into the trench from above.
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3.
r k, ie believe it would be much better to construct a series of. trench seg- ;
?V ments than one long trench. .. The segments would be .perhaps 30 feet m
long separated by 5 to 10 feet of natural material.
If the gravel-filled trench is constructe( between tko waste-filled trenches, it.will be difficult to distinguish the relative influence of each WFT. Two parallel GFT's between two WFT's would elimina'te: 'that y l problem. It could'also be risky to constzvet GFT's between WFT'~s because of limited space (perhaps 8' to 10 feet) and poorly defined; trench ',
wall locations. ' ..\ -
Another importidt. coniid'eration is the installation of'several' pferometers - .
in' the WFT 'to give ai ac'eurate profile of the water level in WFT./It ,
can vary considerably along the length of any trench.
Porosity of the gravel-fill and locations of all bordering trench. l walls -
will be needed to make appropriate analyses. /
Bud Zehner makes the following suggestions in terms of location of the GFT. The 40-series trenches in the northeast corner of the site should , .
not be considered because they are too deep (35-40 feet);' Trench 33L (NW corner of site) has room adjacent to it, but this is an " odd" l trench in that its construction, material buried, and water chemistry are
! different than most trenches on the site. The NE side of trench 36 is a possibility. ,, So are ,the southern sides 'of trenches 26 and-27, if construction of GFT would not destroy the road adjacent to these , , , .
trenches. The~ west side of trench 37 and east side of trench 38 could also possibly be used. Trench .41 is not filled with waste (itTwasused -- -
i as n' contaminated water holding trench),..and wasjug only from the westA fence eastward' about half the length of adjacent trenches, 32 and 35. i l short series (about 150] feet total) of trenches could be put at the ,
i However, very high tritium east end and between trenches 32 and 35.
levels might be encountered near trench 32. The area north'of trench 1 j
is also a possibility.. ..
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As you can see, this will not be a simple inVesti'g'ation.
It might ond.
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- up with only qualitative information or perhaps uninterpretableidata. .
i However, we believe it offers enough promise.that it should be pursued.
We hope this information will be useful and we will be happy to provide any additional help we can. Good Luck!
Sincerely, .
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John B. Robertson
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l Assistant Chief df) T.M O B)ffichTpf Radiohydrology Enclosure ,,
cc: G. D. DeBuchananne
- Bud Zehner Ed Hold, NRC [
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