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1 4+ >-f 6 (a42WILLIAMS & ASSOCIATES-INC.P.O. Box 48, Viola, Idaho 83872 (208) 883-0153 (208) 875-0147

Hrdrogeology * Mineral Resources Waste Management * Geological Engineering * Mine Hydrology

May i-;, :L987Contrac': No. NRFC-- 02-8-t5--0.0)8Fin No. D-1020C oinrnLn i Cat :i. on INo. :L .'6

Mr. J eff FPc-hl eDi vi si on o, Was;te l~1anaqgemfentMail Stop ,':-SSU.S. Nu5clear RegUlatorV COmmiScsci onWashincmton. D.C. 20!555

RE: BWIF' and 2ALT

Dear J eff:

tJ1 7 -_ eFZWM Rncord File -r, i / !

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Distribution: LPDK ,A t

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We have developed six pr-oposed taskI-S for the DWIF' and SAiLT sites.These ,rropc-.alF - r e enrleed Please ca].l Ji.f you. Fred, or Neilhave any rttest.i ons regarding these propopal s.

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Ge'-rv V. Wint f:er

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87222709 '4W1 Project: WN-10,11,1 6 WM Record File: D1020PDR w/encl LPDR w/encl(Return to WM, 623-SS)pJ&32

TA~SK DES3CR~IPT IOfN SULMNIARY

1 . nk -r 'F Tl .E .t

S.i ff1 I 1. a t. in oi f I d r-;O E i O ]. n ogoi c 15 e r F) ons e- tO T t :i 1n g.

t. 1. ,. b j er. ti Ye

The ob ject:ive is to investigate the geoloc-lic fac-ftor-.s that c-ontro()lc:rorr -e . at: i. o n I. e n ig t II and the di strl i. but i oFn f hydrvi qe og .: c:coe-ffi ci. ents i n the hydrorgeol oiic en vironments.

1. 2. Technical Approach.

The i.nve-tiqatgi.ton will be conducted by test ingn the sensi tivity ofpredicting grou-indwater- travel ti mes to the scale of field testinglAk i ng grou.n d. i4 .ter -f 1 ow maod el thi at ar-e in *he public domain.Grou.trndwater- f. ow mnrodels that may be use-d include 'wo- and thr-ee-di Inen s ionr)l -finite differ" encEl anrid/ozr fini t- e element models,including UNSAT2 13y N1.Aum na n! Feddes an d Er-essl er. The two--di mensiona. finite di ffer-ence mode1 by P r' r:i(?ett and Lonqui 'at andthe rnr odu I air t hre-d i mens i on grou.rc:inwater- ; ow (odel by McDonaldanrc: Harbai.RUh a so w:i. 11 be evcaluated. The s .1dy will. i.nvesti.ggatethe re.qat i onsh i q-f t wc--dii mnsi. oral hete:er-oc 'ei v rid isotropy inan a Cui tFer to ) h e scale of hydr-oqoel o 1.C.,ii C r est i ng Used for-(quant i f i. ction c-f the hy Y d roq e O I o g i. i- O f ' i. c i en t Af-et erocjene .ous d i 'st ri. buti on) o-f tr- ansmi. ss:i. vi- wi.:'..1. b e creat-ied

l.Es; i tCh1 n V I- h i a u e- si mi 1 ar- to thQse p l]. oyvd 13 v C1 i f ton ( 1 90 4)i..oc-:at ions will be sel ec-ted fr-om th.e ci n:i.te di-ffference r ri.d or-finite el enent gr-id -fo:r sim slati nC testi. ng at var.:i. out.; scal e-Thfe mode3 iAi 1ll be Lksed to si mAla.1tPte SMnai. 1 sc:-l e testi nig and tos .imulate .ar- ge sCa Ae multiple. e well test:i. ng . T he steF.)s .Used t.o*:-rea a.e t he heete r-ogeneOUs di str-i. bu-it i. on and the Sel ec: t i. on of1.: ;-at i o nr -- or s imul at i ng testing wi l. 1be repeated with sutf f i c::i entrepet.itions to allow a statistical analysis of the; resu..lts. Asta-ttistical. analysis of the r-esults may de-fine the re].at:ion hi pbetween geologic factor-s that contr-ol 1-or-relati"on length.

1 . .RPr-odutct D)esc-r-i pti on.

A r-epiorit Wi. I . b~e p.rre;?par-ed that d escr-i b es the test s and thr:emethodol o dol Iy used to cr ea te the het-etr-ogeneouCS di stri. bu-tion *fLr.an s m i 'ssi i t-'. The pr-ocedur-ises usedto si mulIte tes t s wvi t bediesr-ci be ed as we.ll as Lhe r-esul t- of thE P si vinl ti.onI .. TI hestat... stj.(. I cal proc~r.:edures. used to val u~at-e the .-i mul. t.er data wi11

be di scussed. The rel ationship between heterogeneity and testingsimulations will be evaluated.

1.4. Scheed lk e:

It is not: possible to predict a scheditle for the completion ofthis proposed task. Work produLcts ancd future meetings requiredby the NRC which have not been scheduled at this time pr-event. ourdetermining a precise work: schedU1le for this task1 We believethe proposed task: can be compl.eted wi thin three mont:hs,presupposin g t hat there are no interruptions or compl.icati onscreated by other work requirements.

1.5. Task: ssiqnment/O7:

We will use several people on this proposed task.. The primarypersonnel includes Mr. Gerry Winter, Dr. George Bloomsburg, Dr.Kirk-. Steinhorst, and Dr. Stan Miller.. Other- people will be usedasS retquj rod buLt thei r i. npLt wi i 1 be mi nor compared to theprincipals noted above. Dr. Williams will review all work.Barbara Will ams wi Jl provi de DA on the pr:oposed product.

"

2 . TASk; TITLE:

Review of Geophysical Data Obtained fr-on -the J. Frieme]. #1 WellNear the Proposed Repository Site in Palo Duro Basi.nq Deaf Smi-thCounty * Tex as.

*.1. Objective:

The ob ject ive of this proposed task i. s to revi ew the DOEinterpretations of borehole geophysical data obtained from sthe J.Friemel #1 we].]. which is located near the Palo DiLro Basin s-altrepos-itory rite i n Deaf Smith County, Texas, The geophysicaldata will be reviewed and (correlated with pictUres of t:he corefrom the J. Friemel #14. well.

2,2. >Technical. Approach:

Fict.ures of the core obtained from the .J. Fri emel #1 well must beob:tai. ned for this; proposed task; the geophysical logs for the J.Fri emel #t. well]. aL.SC3 mnUst be obtained. It is preferable to viewthe actUal core from the well but we believe that descriptionsan -i. ctuLAr e s 4: the core will be adequate to complete thisproposed t.:as- kF The geophysi cal lc)gs w:i. I be correl ated with thepj r st.r e s of the co0r e cobtained fro.7m the wel l. The DOEinterpr-etati ons of the ieophysical. lnlgs wil L be reviewed in thisc:on'..e t

2.... Fr-oidtuct rescri pt i on:

A report w:i 11 e pr-epared that desc r i 13 es -the cor relation madebetween t he geophysi cal logs anrid the photographs of the coreobtai ned -frofn the J. Friemel *11 we.l1. The r e port will describediscrepanciees between the interpretations; made by Williamrs andAssoci ates. In(. and the interpretations mna(Jde by the DOEc ons ul t-an t: -,. PFos-si bI e ex pI anati ons for the di screpanci es, ifthey exist will be provided. The report al so wi 1 ]. descri bethose areas where the interpretations by Williams and Associi.Ates,Inc. and DOE agree.

4.4. Schedul e:

It iFs not possible to predict a schedule fol the 01mpi eti on ofthis prc3posed task-,. Work products and future meetjings reqli redby the NRC which have--, not been scheduLACIe at this time prevent ourdetermining a precise work schedule for this task. We believetha.-tt the task-:: can be completed with:in four to f i Ve msonths f r-om

4

it5s initiation. As pointed oaut, the completLion of this task: willdepend heavily upon obtaining the data requi.red -for the task.The geophysical logs and photographs of the core may be difficultto obtain on a timelv basis.

.5. Task: Assignment/DA':

Dr. Kenneth Sprenk:e and Mr-. Gerry Winter will prov ide the majorportion of manpower required to conduct this task. Williams andAssociates. Inc. has requested that Dr. Sprenk-e be placed on ouractive elist of technical personnel. Mr. Winter will provide thecorrelation required tco relate the geophysical log interpretationto the hydrogeology of the site. Dr. Williams will review allwork-. Barbara Williams will provide quality assurance on thisproposed task and product.

.. ASf -SZ TITLE:

Dat<a Nleeds and Sources of Uncertainty in Calcuklating Porosity andEf-fective Forosity.

13. 1L. ObijeR tive:

The objective of thisi sttdy is to eval uate tihe data. that arerequi re-d for calcul ating porcsistv and effective porosity at theBWIP si.te. The objective incluides an evalIuation of the..ncerta.inti.es irnvolved in obtai nirig anr:I evaluati ng the (datarequired -for ca]. cu].ating porosity and ef-f ecti vy porosity.

32. Techrnical aipproach:

AvailabLIe techniQLeS for quaUntifying poros ity and effectivepor o-. i. t y wi 1 1 be eva . uated . A l i terat ure search wi 1 1 berec:u i red. T;erchni oues described in the technical. l.iterature onthis subt ject wjill be reviewed. Documents describing tracer testswi i nclIi.de thonse produced f or the }3WIP site. The types oftesits, that w:i 1.1 be reviewed inclUlde t he two-wel1 recircul atingtracer test*, convergent tracer t est t anfd bor-ehole di uLtiontechni (qLe. IDther methIods of: i nves t igqat i o n ;'that: w.ill Ibe reviewedincl'utde borehole greophysi cs i n en. P neutrCn-vlp i. thermal -neutron andth e oamama-qafmna density logs) and resist i i:. logs.

The tracer- test c-oniducted at the RWIF site at borah:hole DC-7/8 inthe Mr-.Cov(-)y i- Canyon f l ow top i.%ill be evalu ateri . Thi s is t he onl ytracer. tee s Pt c ondut..e tred at a ny :nf the reposi tory i. itea. Someunce-rt:ai nti.es exis t regarding th2 e5f i cracy of this. t est.Speci f i cal. 7y * +t.he head buil dup in the inje ct.ion well should havebeen a mi rr-or ;mage of the head drawdr :i.r7 t.-he di cchar-ge w'elI 1. nThis ni rror i maye did nrot OCCur. ffn aEpprox imate or-der ofmaqgnitude dli ference devel3oped bet;ween the head buildup and thehead drawdioJwn between these two wel 1. - whi ch are 1 ocatecdapp~r oxi mnat'.v ; 55 feet apart in the McCoy Canyon -flow top. Thi. sdisoarity in head bui1ldUp and head drawdOwn scUq:est!s the presencern-f heterogeneities in the vicini ty cof the bokr-holes. This tr4acertest will be reviewed for other possible so-urces 4of uIncert a .int.v.

Williams and Associates, Inc. does not propoc.se to investi.gate 1'niesar L ousv<; t~r- c-l-r-s that are proposed for use at the. site.

3. 4. S c h Ed. Ju 1e

It is no)t possible to pred ic t a schedul e for- t:he coinpl eti on oftfl:i s prnF~opoeed t ask. hWork products atnd t Ut-.fre meet i nsg r cl .. ir-e? d

6

by the NRC which have not been scheduled at this ti. me prevent ourdetermining a precise work schediLAle -for this task. We suggpestthtat this task coul d be comrp IPt ed in three to four moint hsdependi nrg upon the time required to obtain possibiy obscu..re t:?tdocucnents that descri be tec:hni qCUeS used to measure por oasi tv andeffectiive por3o.i tv in si tu.

3. 5, Task Assi gnment/0J

The principle members of the team who will be involved with thisproposed task are Mr. GCerry Winter. lDr. Jim Osiensky, Mr. JohnRiley4 and Mr. Tom Lachmar. Dr. Will iams will review all wor-k:.Earbarca Williams will be responsible for quality assurance on theproposed tt.^.sk and work product D Dr Osi ensky wi 11 Ibe u..tsed to alimited ex-tent on this proposal becAu.Lse of his involvement on theNevada Test Eite. However. Dr. Osienustkv i.s considered essentialto this proposed task because of his knowledge about c-ontamiinantwaste -transport and test procedures -For measuring porosity andeffective porosity.

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4. TASK TITLE:

Uncertainty and Data Needs in t-he Field Evaluation of Horizont:aland Vertti cal Hydraulic Conduc t ivi.tV.

4. 1. Obj ec ti:. V-2'

The obijective of tthis study i.st to investigate the uncertaintiesassoci ated wi. th the data needs that are recui red for thecalcul ation of horizzontial and vertical hydraulic conductivity.

4. .2. Tecl-hnical Approach:

A ]. i terature search will be conducted to discover what techniquescurrent].y ar-e available that represent s t a te of the artapproaches for the quanti fi cati on of horizontal hydrauli cco nduct i vi t y and vert i. cal. hvdraul i c conduc ti vi tyV. We alreadyhav\e conduct-ed a parti. a l search on this Subj ect but it is not uptlo d4atpe (Contrtract NRC-02-82-044). The documents obtained fromthe 1 iteratL..tre -Sear-ch wi11 be reviewed and the data needs foraac h procedure will be tabulated. The uncertainties associatedwith collectinq the data required -For these various techniqueswill be evalu.tated. UncertaintinLes will be lddr>ensed with respectto the practi ca -aspects of obttaining the ti Ra; practical aspectsrel ate? pr iimarily .t. samp3 i nq. design and h!orehal e construct ionc o ns 5. d erv at i on '.-i

This proprosed task may be enhanced by the use of varinous finitele ment and fi,.nite difference model s that .are- i.n the pub ic

dcomai. n The model s may be used to evalu at.e the movrement of apr:ssc->u.r-e pulslt;e through confining layversi. GuCh infc-r ,mation isu seful. for consi. derati on of bore"hol. e and pi e:izomFeter desi. cn andr:olutrnment. The extent to which gr-oundwater f 1 ow modelinq will be..sed in this proposed task: wi.l1 not be ascertained u.nti.l a renviewhas; beerl tcompl eted of the available analytical te chn1i.. qUes thatare deiscrib.ted in the technica]. 1l:iter-atUre. Anal ytiicRl. model.sal so m(ay be used to evaluate the uncertainties i. nh e r ent i n thec al culation of horizontal and vertical hvdrau.kli c: condUcti. vi tV.

4. .. Product Description:

A repport will be prepar-ed which desci:-ri bes the an;Alvticaltechni qlues whi.ch are available ':or qUanrltif vilnq hor-izontal -ndvertical hvdraulic rconductivitv. The techni quec; will be revi ewedand eval Iate d. The re po rt will descri be the data needsassociated with each techniquce. The report also will describe anevaluati.on of the *uncertainties assoir-Jafted wi t.h the techni ques

111

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ancl the data that are reguired for uise in calc:ulat.ing values- forthe required hydrogeologic crt.effic:ients Using those t:echniquets;.The report will descri-be any use of groundwater- models forevaluating procedur-es a nd i.nstall at ion desi.gns for Useid toac qUi re f i el c' data. The mnde]. s Ised in the studv will bedescribed in the report. Only models avai lab].e in t:he publicdomain will be used in this effort.

4.4. Schedule:

It is not possible to predict a schedule -for the completion ofthis proposed task:. Work products and future meeti.rngs requiredby the NRC which have not been scheduled at this time prevent ourdetermining a precise work schedu-ile for this task. However, webelieve that the overall effort can be completed in approximatelythree to four mon-ths.

4.5. -Task: Assignment/OA:

This task: will be condu.Acted bv Dr. Dale RaI lston, Mr-. GerryWinter Mr-. Jnhn Ri. I e y and Mr-. Tom !.Lachmar. These personnels4ill he used to varving degrees depending upon their expertiseand ava;'iability. The m.Ajorit y cf the technical work will beconduc:ted by Mr. John Riley,, Mr. Torn Lac:minar- and Mr. GerryWinter. Dr. Ra Iston and Dr. Williams wil I serve as techni cala dviso rs. on com pI e t i C)ln of th i.s p ropFose d t a -. Barbara Wi 1 1 i.amswill. be responsibi e for quality AssLtrance cr thi-s task. and on thef.nal work product.

9 .

5. TASfE TITLE'

Rev i.ew of Hydrogeologiic Testing Methodolc qies and Procedures UserdQt the WIPP Site: RelevancY arnd pplic.abiit.y to the Palo DuroBasin Site Selected 13v DOEr

5.... Objec:tive:

The object:ive of this tA<: is t cn revPiew the documents thatdescribe the hydrogeologic testing that has been condUcted at theWIPF sit.e in bedded salt. deposits. The nmethods and procedures oftecst i nq CuSed4 at th'e WI PFP sit wil1l. be rev i ewed and ev aluuated withrespec:t to their- applic:ability to *the bedded salt depc.sits in thePalo Dur-o B.asin Texas.

5. 2.:. Techni cal Apf3rca.ch'

The avaiil a bi e docuiments that* describe hydroqeologi.c testing atthe kJIF-PP Si te wi11l be reviewed.. The docu.Iments that describe thehy d roqol3- o I gi c tests whi ch qua nti fy the coeffi;cients will bereviewwed. The cor 3efficient : of i nterest are t'ransmi s sivi t yhy draL'I i C Cond Ic.t i vi ty hvdr;AlUi c head, hydraullic gr*adient andef Fec: tyve porcosi tVy. The docCments- ; also w:i ! 1. be reviewed withrespect to any attempts:; thfat have beer made to del. i neate the mostp ro b ah Ie p54th7 of li.kely radi onuclide trav-*R .l from the reposit:.orv

ra t1-he aRcess ib 1 e environment.

Thle fi-ethodolog ies and pr oced u r es useed at the WIPF site iar eti el i eyedv tn be (espe i a Illv relevant to the Palo Du(3.ro Dasi .n si-t.eThis rel:1Ieviaincy occurs becaus91e of the si mi. l ari ty i. n he neol ogic:fra m ew r . ft.c urnd at both sites; both sites are located within iabedded s-alt- s-Ceque-nce. The WIPP sit.e has used testing ait small.scal.. es bea-uc:acU o f the l ow hydraul i c c-cndUcti. Vi tl es whi ch havebeer, fc-unld t;:3 dlate at that site. We Ltuspect that si mi ar l.owhvd(r.-AUi i.c corduct i vi ties will be found in the Palo DUro FBasi nsi.te. The I ow hydraUli c conduc-t. vi ties assoc i ated with thebeddemd salt deposits have created the need tco conduct thes~e teds-s.usintg site spec:ific meth codo.c. gis; and proDcedures.. It i sdesirabl e to see whether these methodo og ie3. s anc pr oceduresappear to be appropri ate for 1:3oib3e si te chractr-i. zti j snacti.vities at the Palo D..uro Basi n site.

The. wor k undertaken at the WIPP site is the first effort toq uk anti fv d r -c r gecl ogi c coeff i cirents i. n a beddeid salt sequenc:e..Li. ttle ;9fcfort has been p1 aced on -iantifying the 'hyd-rcogecloy ofS;uch a Si tC inI the past. pr i or tc the ini-iati on of the hi.qh levelradioa4ctive wste di spoal priogram.. It is believed thazt. a reviewn f I-I the o t c O C k f. ri t s 4: o r t: I-i WI P s i. tI e ima ,' r o v i d e v a l abl 3. e

I C

i nsi giht into the probl ems associ ated with hydr-oacl orgi C t esti ngin a bedded salt serAuence:A. One oarti.culAor prob lem that must bedA4 ealt with in such a seQUence i. S the pI ast i c n. tv -f the soal tdels~posjits;. The salt wi1.1 .eez.into EA borehol. e -ff ec t in9 theaRkpparent. hvdraul ic response du i-nc3 an :in sitLu tes7t. Trh.s i Cs at.ukni. cue rTpons e whi ch is not found in mast hy-dr-)ositr-ati.ora.:.phic:ut ni ts.

=5. ,. Product Description :

A r-epor-t wi11 be prepar-ed tht;at (outlinens the basic test pr ocedur-esand methodol oqies that were used for qUanti fvin g hydroceol ogi cc.oe-ff i. ci ent S at the WIPF si te. These procedures andmethodol op ipes wi]1]. be reva wieded and commented upon in the report.The test proc edur-es and methodologies also wi 1 L be revi.ewed withr-espect. to their- applicabilittv to testing in the Palo Duro Basin.Te>~ as.

5.L4. c h e d L.; 1 .e:

I]t is not poss b.le to pr-edii-C t a .schedul.e for the compl.etion ofthis pr-opos-;e d task.. t Work produC-ts anrd future meetirngs requiredby th-ie NRCF; whi .C.h h-ave nc:t been sche.dit..O.tedd at this. - i me pr-event ourdet.ermairui opi ai pri-~c2 .1 wor-, V shed the fr .- h tasfl. We bel i evethat the ts.-A s i 1.l r-equire appro imtely -:two and one--half man-months For completion.

5,.,, T. -j anment . 5... '..

The pr-i.n ci pa.F personnel that will 1 be i.nvl.:?ved on thi.s taosi. ar-eMnr Ger-ry Winter-, Dr-. John Sharp. anci Dr-. Roy Williams. Bar-bar-a

Ji. 1 1 am s l;ti 1. I o r-ovi de the nPe ce s arv P(; pr oce d Ur es -f or the r-epor-tpr-oduct and re'vi ew pr-ocess..

1

b. 'TASK TITlE:

Data Needs -for Evaluati on of GrCindzIwater- Flow Pat.ter-ns a..ndGBrOUndwater Travel Times Wi tb in the Pasro Basin.

IZJ 1. Obj e-c t 1 ve: .

The objective of th-is t-isk. is t.o outl..ne and rev:iew e dtaneeds requ i red for eval Us.t inoj gC1aroundwaster -Fl. ow p.-,tterns andgr-oundwater travel ti. ae at the Han-for-d site in the P a sc( Bas E-, i nWashi ng ton.

6. 2. Tec.:hnical A<pproach::

The task, will be undertaken b0y outI1ining the basic informationan d h yd r oqieol1 og., i c c Cif- f f i c::i en-, t -; r f-!C'qU i r-d e or def in i ngi groundwaterflow patter-ncs in the Fasco Easin. The approach will require theconsi derat:i on of h/ydraulic- creffici ent-s and bo undary conditionsthat are req uir ed for pri-c:dicti nc groundwater travel times. Weenvi si on f our ma i or cate go rie S5 ftor topi c s which should beconsi dered i. n this is t ask . These msj or- categories arehydroqeol ogqi c coef - i hi ents bdrogeo1 ogi. L: oun dar i es, transi ent

.j t, Irbat.i c~i-isi on the.J hydro:fol oqgi. C:: rsyste. and hydrc-chemistrv oft.-he qrou-ndwaters within the Passco Ea;.sin.

The mna i or- c at egqr v of hyidr rocl OCJoi c cc'ef f i. c:i ent i C aIn be b ro kendown i. nto =. everal subcatecori es. 0L- vi ousI -, transmi ssi Vi ty MUStbe meTssLSred wii thin thie basin and sppec.:.i-i call v within the Hanfor dsite f or the predi ct.i on o f groundwater tr-ave. Li me. Thethick ness of tha.-..t porti on of the test inter-vIal whicih contributedfoI QW d uri ng t esti nc m u st bie die termine d. The t h ick ne.-:?,sscont ri b ti. n . to -7low msit..t tbe quaantified in order i-.o calcu'l ate arepir-ese.>ntai.::i y>e value for hydraul i.c conductivitv. The standardpr(:CedurYe of dividinq the transmii s;i vi ty b y t,1-he e ntirre testint-er-val t.h i c::P.ne sS is inappropri .- tte as this, pr-oclUces a slo-w *.notcornservati.ve) tvdraul:ic conductivi.ty. An appro-pr iate vas ue ofivdraul ic conductivitv can be calcUIl.ated i-f the c(ontr:i huti no zonethi krnesses are used i.n Il leU of using -he entire tet o -rethi cir.ness.

Verti.ical hydraulic can duc i vi. ty musn t: b e reŽa F-s .r ed wi. t hin the,onf i n 0i - i uri i I:. -v'ert:;. cal hvdriau 1 iC conduct i v i tv i s renu:i. red in.o.rder- lo, p; -r(di t -t:he groundwater- travel ti;me comprnent al(ono *v ert. c i ca f :1 ow oa th.

-to rIs.Ti Vi .Ii minust b in measured-d i f transi ernt e-f fe+cts ar(.e tn bheconsi dered. CStorativi. tv o-f lt-:e cuni n I i1 Units S s re.qUJ:i. red for-ca l.c u a. ti n vi ye r-t i cal. hv dr -ElU .1. ic on ruc:t ivi t v i f t: he eIlcuITIrn-

1.2

Witherspoon ratio method is us-ed to quant:L.fv Vvertical hvycirauliccand LAucti vity The cstorati vity of both the conf in"l -g Lnit-s andthe aquifers must be detertmined -for an acccurate analysis of theeffects of perturbations on the h ydronierilocigc system.

E-f f ect i. ve p o ro si t fy must te measu.Ared. Effective norosi t: isrequJired fci:r the calcLil atJ.on of -ciroundwater velocitY and henceciroun~dwater travel time. E.'f Recti ve porosity is a f uLndamenta al.c:oef f i c i ent i n the eq' at -- i cn used f or- c ac.1 C Ll at i ngq groundwater-vel oci ty.

Hydraulic qradients must be determined; hydraulic heads in theh orizontal, and vertical di recti clns ar-e retaui r-ed to calcul atehd r a u]. i c gradi ents. FILuid densi ties must. be mneasored both withresCpect to tiemperatu.re arid total dissolved soli ds c:ontent. FlIUi ddensities are required to adjust hydrau.tlic heads in vari able*flid density groundwater systemrs.

The second major ca'recory is hydrcgeoJ. ogic boundari. es. Barrierboundaries iffluence the mOvement of nroLundwater within a basin.Bar-ri er boundcxar-i e mav be as-,oci ated w-i th sync]. i ne s anti cli neesanrd faults:; dii ':orncal qeolo gi c features mai -y act acs boundari es.R ec harcie bh;-ucndaries ;ar-e si. on:1 f i can-t to consi derati on ofciro.un~tidWate-?r f lor~w patterns in the basirn. Recharkg-e I:o).undari es maybje aSsoiC3;i at-d wi th eoloq.c i c s1ru ctur-es.; su h as synclines,ant:ic-lines, and faults. Rechharge bLoILnd.-r i es- mav be Passoci atedwi th fc-rnat ion outcrrops in the has- i. n. R e Ch, k r re also may occur byc.ie ral]. verti Cal Movement of (.rouLnd.:iw a t er over a broad area.Hvdrocneoloniic divides must be considered in the C-lonceptual:izationof groiundwate.1r flow. A pootisnti al hyvdroge;locgIic di vide e ::.Strs in*the foci r m on f tlhe.i Cl L .Lmrb 1a. R. ver ne ar t he H anf oc r fi .t e TheCcl.ui sa R.I.s.r is a mainr SUI-face drainae f+eature. The qtestionr-emains as to whether the CocUlumbia R Fver- is a potent i a].hvdroqeR on iccii- diivide in the deep basalt for-mat.i. ors.

Transi ent: perturbations on the hydrogeologic system are anotherm-Ai(-)r c:ateoiorvy that must be cons:i dered. Waste water disposal atthe Han-ford site has affected the areal and ver ti cal. c.qroUndwaterflow system :i n the shallow surf ici ci aseci i tenets . Tht :.-` nf l Ue--::e owas;te disposal activities on hvdraUl ic cir-adi enrts a ndhvdrochemistrv at depth i. s n kn o wn at th.4 s ti. me. Thein terconnec:tion bet we en t.he shal. .lcw acAii.f e r T;yvste m and *the

intermediat e- to deep groi..indwater fl ow s;ystems :i.n the basalts ht-asnot b e en oiut] i ned at thi s t i in. IrrecT i uati o n I..mpa qe from has al tformations may affect qrouindwaI:er levels on si te ;a. thoi .. A n h the- r ei5:s no cLr r n t i. r-r i gat i ri pump a e wi. thi.n t he P I ancu. rcd Re serv at: .on

The f our-tI. i ma j or c ategory t h;at re qu i r--es i: neS.t :i qat i. on i s tihehvdrochemi strv of the basalt formAtions . The i-areal distribbUtinionof the hydrochemical const-i-t.tents mjL=-t h. d et erm f n~ed .. The --Ar e al

13

d i str ibution i.s re aiuired : or assisting in the delineation ofregional flow paths. The hydrochemistry may be useful i n theidentification of hydrocewologic bOLundarieCs and hycirogeologicdivi des. The hydrochemi stry dat.a base may tb-e uS eieful f oridentifying possibhle groundwater plt.tmes; the p1 times may consistof groundwater- exhibitinq a di stinctl:v d if fer-ent hydrochemi strythan backgroI nd water ;-As-sociated with -those basa].t formations.An e-:xample of this scenario is the postul ated chlor i de plumeemanating in the vicinity of the RRL. The vertical distributionrof hvdrochemical coc!n st i tuLten t s m(ay he useful for delineatingregqional * irntermedi. ate andr locaCal yroundwater flow paths, andpi...lumeF? s of di.st:i.nctl v dif ferent groundwater. The verticaldi stri.hutio. n of hv dr-oc hemj.cal const ituents al--so i. usef ul foridenti fying hy1drogeologic broUndAries and hydrogeologic. divides.

The major categories out'lined ahove constitute the basis for- dataneeds required f c:r e,.,i tIat :t n g groundwater flow patterns andpredicting groundwater tr-avel times within the Hanford site inthe Pasco Basin.

r. or-jd:_.ct Descr:ioti.on.'

The oroduct of th:i. s 1ta!.:: will be a report outl i ni rig the dataneeds.; The r-port wi].: describe the da-ta needs and evaluate theimportance of quantif i c at:i on wVi t h resne--.ct to evaluatinggroundw ater f].ow patt erns and predicti nc3 oruLin dwater travel.ti mes. The product wi 1]. be qual i tati ye i. n nfltLiret a quant i tat i.eapproach will not be used in this tiask .

46. 4. S -he dulk -E:

It is not possible to predict a schedule for 4t-he c::omplet iorn ofthis proposed task. Work products and future mneetings requ r-edby the NIJr-C which have not been scheduled at this time prevent ourdeternmi ninq c a precise work- schedule for this tasl;. We beli.evethat this tvask can be completed in appr-oximciately two ;.And one-hal-Fmonths bLAt that completion is. dependent upon other work produLctschedul es.

6. 5. Task Assignment/C-A.:

Pr:inci.pal peopi e :i.nvolved in condUctincI this task are Dr. DaI leRalston. *Mr. GEr-ry Winter, Mr. Tom lachmar, anrd Dr. Ro,;oy W lli.ms.DrI:r-. Wil1. i arms will provide gui dance ;or comr.i eti on of this.proposed t --isk. B arbIra.r a Wi 1 l i arms wi I 1 r rov i de ^, ril qua hi tvas-surance on-1 the report- T-he report is the oro rdu0cLt of tl-ieDr p::op setci tusk ShoLil c] i t he i li t i ated

\ B

State officials mistrustHanford iodine report

Assocatd Press

RICHLAND - Federal andstate officials are at oddsover what the Department ofEnergy is saying about Iodine129 releases into ground wa-ter at the Hanford nuclearreservation.

The U.S. Inspector Generalinvestigated and found noproblems with the way theDOE handles data on radioac-tive iodine in ground water,but state officials say theDOE isn't being open enoughabout the issue.

Data on Iodine 129 is impor-tant because it could affectpredictions about the waythat ground water travels atHanford, state geologist Ray-mond Lasmanis said Moonday.

I-129 is a long-lived isotopeand tends to travel with wa-ter, which makes it a goodtrace element to determineground water movement.Traces of 1-129 have beenfound in deep test wells atHanford.

The direction and speedthat ground water travels arecrucial issues concerningHanford's potential as a high-level waste site. Hanford isone of three sites being con-sidered for the nation's firstnuclear-waste dump.

If the data shows thatground water moves tooquickly from deep under Han-ford to the Columbia River, itwould disqualify the site as arepository candidate.

The Inspector General's of-fice would not release the re-sults of its investigation thisweek, but made a copy avail-able to Robert Cook, the Nu-clear RegulatoryCommission's representativefor Hanford's high-levelwaste repository project.

In a memo from Cook toRobert E. Browning, directorof the NRC's division of wastemanagement Cook said, "the(Inspector deneral's reportindicated no problems in theprevious handling of -I-129 in-formation."

The NRC has been conduct-ing studies of Hanford as adump site. Since 1985, Cookhas been pushing for Rock-well Hanford to provide moredata on I-29 to the NRC.

In his April memo, ob-tained by the Tri-City Herald,Cook said he now believes thedata will be released "withina couple of months."

Cook's memo raises ques-tions about the way informa-tion on the isotope has beendistributed in the past. Re-ports on 1-129 were completedin 1972 and 1973, "but werenot cited in subsequent infor-mation generally available tothe publc," Cook said.

The documents "receivedlimited distribution (22 cop-ies) within DOE contractororganizations," according toCook. His memo also statesthat the reports weren't citedin an 1975 environmental im-pact statement on waste man-agement practices atHanford.

Lasmanis and Don Provost,technical director for thestate's Nuclear Waste Board,also found fault with the wayDOE and Rockwell Hanfordhave handled the data.

Provost stopped short ofaccusing DOE or Rockwell oftrying to hide data on 1-129.Rockwell is the lead contrac-tor for repository studies atHanford.

"We really aren't sure thatthis was intentional," Provostsaid. _

SC Lewlston Tribune/Wednesday, May 6, 1987