Hydrologic investigations at Hanford

Abstract

During the twelve‐year history of the Hanford Plant, several hundred wells were drilled throughout the area in order to obtain hydrologic, geologic, and radiologic monitoring data. Hydrologic data obtained throughout the Hanford site show that due to discharge to ground of about 28 billion gallons of non‐radioactive process cooling water, the water table has locally been raised approximately 80 feet and that 20 miles southeast of the disposal sites it has been raised 0.5 foot. Pumping‐test data indicate that locally the underlying aquifers may transmit as little as 30,000 gpd/ft and as much as 3,000,000 gpd/ft. Such hydrologic and hydraulic data are used to assist evaluation of safe radioactive waste disposal practices and to estimate effects of large volume nonradioactive process cooling water disposal.