Long-Term Performance Monitoring of Metals and Radionuclides in the Subsurface: Strategies, Tool and Case Studies

The U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other agencies co-sponsored a workshop on the "Long-Term Performance Monitoring of Metals and Radionuclides in the Subsurface: Strategies, Tool and Case Studies" at USGS’s headquarters in Reston, Virginia, April 21-22, 2004. The objective of the workshop was to identify the current state-of-practice and practical insights from existing long-term monitoring (LTM) strategies as well as the regulatory and technical needs to address near-term (3-5 year) requirements to support LTM of metals and radionuclides in the subsurface. Workshop participants addressed monitoring strategies, techniques and tools that currently are utilized or planned for monitoring as well as their near-term needs for moving innovative technologies into practice.

USGS Presentations

• "USGS Research on Monitoring the Fate of Contaminants in the Unsaturated Zone," by David W. Morganwalp
• "Plume-Scale Testing of a Simplified Method for Detecting Tritium Contamination in Plants and Soil," by Brian J. Andrask
• "Monitoring Radionuclide Contamination in the Unsaturated Zone: Lessons Learned from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Amargosa Desert Research Site, Nye County, Nevada," by David A. Stonestrom

More Information

• Using Plants To Detect Tritium Contamination
• Waste Disposal and Contaminant Migration in the Arid Southwest, Amargosa Desert Research Site, Nevada

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