Characterization Plan for Fiscal Year 2002 Immobilized Low-Activity Waste Site Characterization Boreholes

The U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site has the most diverse and largest amounts of radioactive tank waste in the United States. High-level radioactive waste has been stored at Hanford since 1944. Approximately 209,000 m3 (54 Mgal) of waste are currently stored in 177 tanks. Vitrification and onsite disposal of low-activity tank waste (LAW) are embodied in the strategy described in the Tri-Party Agreement. The tank waste is to be retrieved, separated into low- and high-level fractions, and then immobilized. The low-activity vitrified waste will be disposed of in the 200 East Area of the Hanford Site. This report is a plan to drill and characterize three borehole for the Performance Assessment. The plan describes data collection activities for determining physical and chemical properties of the vadose zone and saturated zone on the northeast side of the proposed disposal site. These data will then be used in the 2005 Performance Assessment