Based on the review, it was apparent that the most effective corrective measures administered were those developed from an understanding of the site conditions which caused the problems. The operating histories of eleven major disposal facilities were examined. « lessĪ review was conducted of experience in responding to problems encountered in shallow land burial of low-level radioactive waste and in research and development related to these problems. Incorporation of an SPCS should be considered in the design of isolation barriers for shallow land burial of hazardous wastes in and regions. A replicated field experiment to investigate the implications of those effects is in progress. Intrusion barriers of gravel and cobble can be used to restrict burrowing, but emplacement of such barriers affects soil moisture storage and plant rooting depths.
However, burrowing by small mammals or ants may affect the performance of a SPCS by increasing infiltration of water. Healthy stands of more » perennial grasses and shrubs adapted to the INEL climate use all available soil moisture, even during a very wet growing season. Research at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has shown that 2 m of soil is adequate to store moisture from snowmelt and spring rains.
Where potential evapotranspiration far exceeds precipitation, water can be kept from reaching buried wastes by (1) providing a sufficiently deep cap of soil to store precipitation that falls while plants are dormant and (2) maintaining plant cover to deplete soil moisture during the growing season, thereby emptying the storage reservoir. This paper describes application of a soil-plant cover system (SPCS) to preclude water from reaching interred wastes in arid and semiarid regions. In the interim, surface stabilization efforts are being conducted on waste sites to control and deter burrowing animals.
Information received from test plots will be used in formulating appropriate control mechanisms which may be deployed in the future. The /sup 137/Cs values reported in the mice and mounds are below Rockwell Hanford Operations (Rockwell) surface soil contamination limits. This indicates that the burrowing habits of these mice and subsequent mound construction may be more important in terms of radionuclide dispersal than the small amounts contained within their bodies. The small amounts of /sup 137/Cs found in the mice were an order of magnitude below what was present in the mounds. Pocket mice burrowed deeper in the backfilled burial site (anti x = 72 cm) than they did in the control site (anti more » x = 38 cm). The objectives of the study were to: (1) document and compare burrow depths on a control site and a decommissioned radioactive waste pond and (2) document /sup 137/Cs concentrations in pocket mice and the soil mounds created by their burrowing activities. This study identifies parameters associated with burrowing activities of the Great Basin Pocket Mouse at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. The intrusion of waste burial sites by animals is a common occurrence at nuclear waste facilities. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States) OSTI Identifier: 5292387 Report Number(s): PNL-4140 ON: DE82016363 TRN: 82-013059 DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830 Resource Type: Technical Report Country of Publication: United States Language: English Subject: 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL SITE SURVEYS RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES BASELINE ECOLOGY RODENTS HABITAT ARID LANDS CHIPMUNKS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS INTRUSION LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES MICE MILL TAILINGS PLANNING PRAIRIE DOGS RATS REVIEWS SQUIRRELS UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL ANIMALS DOCUMENT TYPES ECOLOGY MAMMALS MANAGEMENT MATERIALS NUCLEAR FACILITIES RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS RADIOACTIVE WASTES SOLID WASTES TAILINGS VERTEBRATES WASTE DISPOSAL WASTE MANAGEMENT WASTES 053000* - Nuclear Fuels- Environmental Aspects 510500 - Environment, Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989) 052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & = , Authors: Gano, K A States, J B Publication Date: Research Org.: Pacific Northwest National Lab.
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