The Groundwater/Vadose Zone (GW/VZ) Integration Project at the U.S. Department of Energy?s Hanford Site in Washington state is currently developing the tools and supporting data to assess the cumulative impact to human and ecological health and the region?s economy and cultures from waste that will remain at the Hanford Site after the site closes. This integrated system of new and legacy models and data is known as the System Assessment Capability (SAC). The environmental transport modules of the SAC modeling system provide estimates of contaminant concentrations from Hanford Site sources in a time-dependent manner in the vadose zone, groundwater, and the Columbia River and its associated sediments. The Risk/Impact Module uses these estimates of media- and time-specific concentrations to estimate potential impacts on the ecology of the Columbia River corridor, the health of persons who might live in or use the corridor or the upland Hanford environment, the local economy, and the cultural resources. Preliminary Monte Carlo realizations from the SAC modeling system demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale uncertainty analysis of the complex relationships in environmental transport on the one hand and ecological, human, cultural, and economic risk on the other. Initial impact results show successful linking of codes and very small long-term risks for the 10 radionuclides and chemicals evaluated.
Revised: February 24, 2020 |
Published: January 1, 2005
Citation
Scott M.J., C.A. Brandt, A.L. Bunn, D.W. Engel, P.W. Eslinger, T.B. Miley, and B.A. Napier, et al. 2005.Modeling long-term risk to environmental and human systems at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Scope and findings from the initial model.Environmental Management 35, no. 1:84-98.PNNL-SA-37678.