Ground and Ground Water Management at Sellafield

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Ground and Ground Water Management at
Sellafield
Presented by Dr Katherine Eilbeck Deputy Head of
Contaminated Land
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History of Sellafield

• WWII Royal Ordnance Factory for production of
  TNT some evidence of conventional chemical
  contamination
• Mid 1940s site adopted to support production of
  atomic weapons materials
• Two further generation of plants have followed
  for the reprocessing of commercial reactor Magnox
  and Oxide fuels

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Sellafield in 1946

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Sellafield in 2004

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Background

• 1950s - radioactive waste disposal in trenches
  (pre-Low Level Waste Repository)
• 1970s silos major leak
• 1950s and 1970s - medium active leakage from
  Magnox reprocessing facility
• Miscellaneous spillages, leakages and disposals
  since1951

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Major Contaminants

• Caesium-137 and 134
• Strontium-90
• Tritium
• Technetium-99
• Plutonium-239
• Non-rads TNT, heavy metals, asbestos, nitrates,
  organics, etc.

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Conceptual Cross Section
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Speed at which contaminants move through ground
water
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Sellafield Ground Water Contamination

• Conceptual model of contaminant migration
  pathways

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Short Term Management

• Safety case Managing the day-to day safety
  implications
• Best Practicable Means easily implemented
  solutions
• Leak detection plant audits and identification
  of technology
• Groundwater monitoring programme
• Better characterisation of Separation Area

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Short Term Management

• Better data management and visualisation tools
• GIS, IMAGES
• Better use of the current data and information
• trending of data
• Improved numerical modelling capability
• hydrological, risk, cost, etc.
• Improved site water balance

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Sellafield Groundwater monitoring wells
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The Website
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Mid Term Management

• Management of contaminated groundwater while the
  contaminated ground remains in place
• Conceptualisation of Separation Area
• Assessment of appropriate remediation /management
  technologies for the plumes and accessible areas
  of contamination
• Implementation of appropriate technology

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Long-term risks associated with source terms

• Off-site risks will be less than required to
  necessitate remediation, assuming institutional
  control
• Major risks are well-water risks. There are no
  current or anticipated users of this water.
• Could leave in-situ if site remained under some
  form of institutional control in terms of risk
  but possible that this would not prove acceptable

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Summary of below ground contamination issues at
Sellafield

• Contaminated groundwater is not a new issue
• Monitoring has been carried out for decades
  monitoring network recently improved
• Currently undertaking a 15 million project to
  better understand the contamination under
  Separation Area
• A new and growing in house contaminated land
  capability are placing us in a good position to
  manage current and future technical requirements
• Measures to accelerate remediation under
  investigation
• This is a long-term issue so data and information
  management is key
• Understanding contaminated land issues are key
  for determining the next use of the site