A Study Plan for Determining Recharge Rates at the Hanford Site Using Environmental Tracers

This report presents a study plan tor estimating recharge at the Hanford Site using environmental tracers. Past operations at the Hanford Site have led to both soil and groundwater contamination, and recharge is one of the primary mechanisms for transporting contaminants through the vadose zone and into the groundwater. The prediction of contaminant movement or transport is one aspect of performance assessment and an important step in the remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) process. In the past, recharge has been characterized by collecting lysimeter data. Although lysimeters can generate important and reliable data, their limitations include 1) fixed location, 2) fixed sediment contents, 3) edge effects, 4) low rates, and 5) relatively short duration of measurement. These limitations impact the ability to characterize the spatial distribution of recharge at the Hanford Site, and thus the ability to predict contaminant movement in the vadose zone. An alternative to using fixed lysimeters for determining recharge rates in the vadose zone is to use environmental tracers. Tracers that have been used to study water movement in the vadose zone include total chloride, {sup 36}CI, {sup 3}H, and {sup 2}H/{sup 18}O. Atmospheric levels of {sup 36}CI and {sup 3}H increased during nuclear bomb testing inmore » the Pacific, and the resulting "bomb pulse" or peak concentration can be measured in the soil profile. Locally, past operations at the Hanford Site have resu~ed in the atmospheric release of numerous chemical and isotopic tracers, including nitrate, {sup 129}I, and {sup 99}Tc. The radionuclides, in particular, reached a well-defined atmospheric peak in 1945. Atmospheric releases of {sup 129}I and {sup 99}Tc were greatly reduced by mid-1946, but nitrogen oxides continued to be released from the uranium separations facilities. As a result, the nitrate concentrations probably peaked in the mid-1950s, when the greatest number of separations facilities were operating. Seven study sites on the Hanford Site have been selected, in two primary soil types that are believed to represent the extremes in recharge, the Quincy sand and the Warden silt loam. An additional background study site upwind of the Hanford facilities has been chosen at the Yakima Firing Center. Study sites at Hanford were chosen close to micrometeorology stations on downwind transects from the operational facilities. Initial testing will be done on sites that lack perennial vegetation. Six tracer techniques (total chlortde, {sup 36}Cl, {sup 3}H, nitrate, {sup 129}I, and {sup 99}Tc) will be tested on at least one site in the Quincy sand, one site in the Warden si~ loam, and the background site, to determine which combination of tracers wortks best for a given soil type. In subsequent years, additional sites will be investigated to determine the effect of vegetation on recharge estimates and on the performance of individual tracers. The use of environmental tracers is perhaps the only cost-effective method for estimating the spatial vartability of recharge at a site as large as Hanford. The tracer techniques used at Hanford have wide applicability at other and sites operated by the U.S. Department of Energy as well as at low-level radioactive waste disposal sites.« less