Unreviewed Disposal Question Evaluation: Disposal of 0.2 Curie/gallon MAVRC Project Equipment in Vault 1

The Saltstone Facility 0.2 Curie/gallon MAVRC (Mixer At Vault Roof Concept) Project will utilize various pieces of process equipment that have not been analyzed from a Performance Assessment perspective for future disposal. The proposed activity will involve the disposal of Saltstone process equipment in an empty Vault 1 cell and encasing the equipment in clean (nonradioactive) grout. An examination of this activity indicates that the disposal of up to 20 pieces of each specified component should not affect the assumptions, results, and conclusions of the approved Performance Assessment (PA) and Special Analyses (SA) for Saltstone, and that the activity is within the bounds of the Disposal Authorization Statement (DAS)

CHRONIC ZINC SCREENING WATER EFFECT RATIO FOR THE H-12 OUTFALL, SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

In response to proposed Zn limits for the NPDES outfall H-12, a Zn screening Water Effects Ratio (WER) study was conducted to determine if a full site-specific WER is warranted. Using standard assumptions for relating the lab results to the stream, the screening WER data were consistent with the proposed Zn limit and suggest that a full WER would result in a similar limit. Addition of a humate amendment to the outfall water reduced Zn toxicity, but the toxicity reduction was relatively small and unlikely to impact proposed Zn limits. The screening WER data indicated that the time and expense required to perform a full WER for Zn is not warranted

Innovative Strategy For Long Term Monitoring Of Metal And Radionuclide Plumes

Many government and private industry sites that were once contaminated with radioactive and chemical wastes cannot be cleaned up enough to permit unrestricted human access. The sites will require long term management, in some cases indefinitely, leaving site owners with the challenge of protecting human health and environmental quality at these "legacy" sites. Long-term monitoring of groundwater contamination is one of the largest projected costs in the life cycle of environmental management at the Savannah River Site, the larger DOE complex, and many large federal and private sites. There is a need to optimize the performance and manage the cost of long term surveillance and monitoring at their sites. Currently, SRNL is initiating a pilot field test using alternative protocols for long term monitoring of metals and radionuclides. A key component of the approach is that monitoring efforts are focused on measurement of low cost metrics related to hydrologic and chemical conditions that control contaminant migration. The strategy combines careful monitoring of hydrologic boundary conditions with measurement of master variables such as chemical surrogates along with a smaller number of standard well analyses. In plumes contaminated with metals, master variables control the chemistry of the groundwater system, and include redox variables (ORP, DO, chemicals), pH, specific conductivity, biological community (breakdown/decay products), and temperature. Significant changes in these variables will result in conditions whereby the plume may not be stable and therefore can be used to predict possible plume migration. Conversely, concentration measurements for all types of contaminants in groundwater are a lagging indicator plume movement - major changes contaminant concentrations indicate that contamination has migrated. An approach based on measurement of master variables and explicit monitoring of hydrologic boundary conditions combined with traditional metrics should lead to improved monitoring while simultaneously reducing costs. This paradigm is being tested at the SRS F-Area where an innovative passive remedial system is being monitored and evaluated over the long term prior to traditional regulatory closure. Contaminants being addressed at this site are uranium, strontium-90, iodine-129, and tritium. We believe that the proposed strategies will be more effective in early identification of potential risks; these strategies will also be cost effective because controlling variables are relatively simple to measure. These variables also directly reflect the evolution of the plume through time, so that the monitoring strategy can be modified as the plume 'ages'. This transformational long-term monitoring paradigm will generate large cost savings to DOE, other federal agencies and industry and will provide improved performance and leading indicators of environmental management performance

EVALUATING AN INNOVATIVE OXYGEN SENSOR FOR REMOTE SUBSURFACE OXYGEN MEASUREMENTS

Oxygen is a primary indicator of whether anaerobic reductive dechlorination and similar redox based processes contribute to natural attenuation remedies at chlorinated solvent contaminated sites. Thus, oxygen is a viable indicator parameter for documenting that a system is being sustained in an anaerobic condition. A team of researchers investigated the adaptation of an optical sensor that was developed for oceanographic applications. The optical sensor, because of its design and operating principle, has potential for extended deployment and sensitivity at the low oxygen levels relevant to natural attenuation. The results of the research indicate this tool will be useful for in situ long-term monitoring applications, but that the traditional characterization tools continue to be appropriate for characterization activities

Evapotranspiration And Geochemical Controls On Groundwater Plumes At Arid Sites: Toward Innovative Alternate End-States For Uranium Processing And Tailings Facilities

Management of legacy tailings/waste and groundwater contamination are ongoing at the former uranium milling site in Tuba City AZ. The tailings have been consolidated and effectively isolated using an engineered cover system. For the existing groundwater plume, a system of recovery wells extracts contaminated groundwater for treatment using an advanced distillation process. The ten years of pump and treat (P&T) operations have had minimal impact on the contaminant plume – primarily due to geochemical and hydrological limits. A flow net analysis demonstrates that groundwater contamination beneath the former processing site flows in the uppermost portion of the aquifer and exits the groundwater as the plume transits into and beneath a lower terrace in the landscape. The evaluation indicates that contaminated water will not reach Moenkopi Wash, a locally important stream. Instead, shallow groundwater in arid settings such as Tuba City is transferred into the vadose zone and atmosphere via evaporation, transpiration and diffuse seepage. The dissolved constituents are projected to precipitate and accumulate as minerals such as calcite and gypsum in the deep vadose zone (near the capillary fringe), around the roots of phreatophyte plants, and near seeps. The natural hydrologic and geochemical controls common in arid environments such as Tuba City work together to limit the size of the groundwater plume, to naturally attenuate and detoxify groundwater contaminants, and to reduce risks to humans, livestock and the environment. The technical evaluation supports an alternative beneficial reuse (“brownfield”) scenario for Tuba City. This alternative approach would have low risks, similar to the current P&T scenario, but would eliminate the energy and expense associated with the active treatment and convert the former uranium processing site into a resource for future employment of local citizens and ongoing benefit to the Native American Nations

Evaluation of Natural and in-Situ Remediation Technologies for a Coal-Related Metals Plume

Metals contamination exceeding drinking water standards (MCLs) is associated with acidic leachate generated from a coal pile runoff basin at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. The metals plume extends over 100 acres with its' distal boundary about onehalf mile from the Savannah River. Based on the large plume extent and high dissolved iron and aluminum concentrations, conventional treatment technologies are likely to be ineffective and cost prohibitive. In-situ bioremediation using existing groundwater microbes is being evaluated as a promising alternative technology for effective treatment, along with consideration of natural attenuation of the lower concentration portions of the plume to meet remedial goals. Treatment of the high concentration portion of the groundwater plume by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) is being evaluated through laboratory microcosm testing and a field-scale demonstration. Organic substrates are added to promote SRB growth. These bacteria use dissolved sulfate as an electron acceptor and ultimately precipitate dissolved metals as metal sulfides. Laboratory microcosm testing indicate SRB are present in groundwater despite low pH conditions, and that their growth can be stimulated by soybean oil and sodium lactate. The field demonstration consists of substrate injection into a 30-foot deep by 240-foot long permeable trench. Microbial activity is demonstrated by an increase in pH from 3 to 6 within the trench. Downgradient monitoring will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of SRB in reducing metal concentrations. Natural attenuation (NA) is being evaluated for the low concentration portion of the plume. A decrease in metal mobility can occur through a variety of abiotically and/or biotically mediated mechanisms. Quantification of these mechanisms is necessary to more accurately predict contaminant attenuation using groundwater transport models that have historically relied on simplified conservative assumptions. Result s from matched soil/porewater samples indicate higher soil/water partition coefficients (Kds) with increasing distance from the source. In addition, site-specific metals availability is being assessed using sequential extraction techniques, which more accurately represent environmental conditions as compared to default EPA extraction methods. Due to elevated sulfate levels in the plume, SRB are most likely to be the dominant biotic contributor to NA processes