Performance of special wasteform lysimeters and waste migration at a humid site

The special wasteform lysimeter (SWL) program at the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) near Aiken, South Carolina is designed to measure leaching behavior and radionuclide migration under realistic burial conditions at a humid site. A similar program at an arid site is being conducted at Hanford near Richland, Washington. The wasteforms were placed in the lysimeters in March 1982 and represent typical low-level waste from two commercial reactors. An extensive report covering the initial three years of operation was issued in November 1985. This report updates the results of that report and includes significant observations made during the past year of operation. The Waste Migration Program at SRL included continued monitoring of 40 defense waste lysimeters, radionuclide uptake by pine trees, and measurement of total organic carbon in the ground water of the burial ground. 5 references, 2 figures, 5 tables