ALTEMIS: Using integrated hydrology and reactive transport modeling to support resilience at the Savannah River Site

Xu, Z.*; Litzinger, A.*; 佐久間 一幸; Arora, B.*; Hazenberg, P.*; Wang, L.*; Gonzalez Raymat, H.*; Fabricatore, E.*; Wainwright, Haruko*; Eddy-Dilek, C.*

Proceedings of Waste Management Symposia 2024 (WM2024) (Internet), 14 Pages, 2024/03

We leverage the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS), a comprehensive model encompassing overland flow, groundwater processes, canopy and ground evapotranspiration effects. ATS is integrated with reactive transport models, including PFLOTRAN and CrunchFlow, to capture the intricate dynamics of key nuclear-related geochemical species. The Advanced Long-term Environmental Monitoring Systems (ALTEMIS) project extends its efforts across multiple scales: 1) Watershed Scale ATS Model: At the Savannah River Site, we employ a watershed-scale ATS model to quantify the water budget and estimate evapotranspiration fluxes.; 2) Integrated Hydrology Model for Floodplains: Our integrated hydrology model zooms in on the floodplain of Fourmiles Creek, enabling quantification of upwelling groundwater fluxes into wetlands and surface ponds. It also used to assess contaminant migration into Fourmiles Creek; 3) Fully Integrated Reactive Transport Model: Focused on the F-Area seepage basin, one of the largest nuclear waste processing facilities, we develop both 2D transect and 3D basin models. These models estimate the behavior of radioactive elements such as uranium and tritium, as well as non-reactive geochemical species.; 4) Sr-90 Sorption Model: Informed by extensive Sr-90 sorption experiments on minerals and core samples, we parameterize both electrostatic and non-electrostatic sorption models for Sr-90. These models are integrated into multiple reactive transport frameworks, significantly enhancing our ability to accurately predict Sr-90 migration under varying pH conditions.