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With the help of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, the Idaho Cleanup Project continues work to protect the Snake River Plain Aquifer this week by injecting grout into 21 buried waste locations in the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA) of the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) at the Department of Energy�s Idaho Site. The project will cost $8.2 million and will reduce the threat of contaminants migrating toward the aquifer by keeping water out of the waste.

�Protecting the Snake River Plain Aquifer is a priority at the Idaho Site. Thanks to Recovery Act funds, this grouting work will help ensure the safety of our important natural resource,� said Rick Provencher, manager of DOE�s Idaho Operations Office.

Wastes being targeted in the grouting effort include glass and resins produced during historical research and operations at the Idaho National Lab (INL), which were buried in the 1960s and 1970s. These wastes are contaminated with mobile forms of technetium-99 and iodine-129. Grouting will inhibit rain and snow melt from infiltrating through the waste, thus reducing the ability of contaminants to flow toward the aquifer until the more permanent cover is installed beginning in approximately 2025.

This project, which began on June 7 and is expected to be completed this fall, is the third time that grout will have been injected into buried waste to slow migration of contaminants underground. The first occurred in 1997 as a demonstration project. In 2004, paraffin wax was successfully injected in the vicinity of buried beryllium reflector blocks to slow the release of carbon-14.

The latest grouting project is the second phase of a 2008 Record of Decision signed by DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of Idaho to remediate the RWMC�s 97-acre SDA. The first phase, which is ongoing, involves excavating targeted waste from a minimum of 5.69 acres of the SDA and packaging the targeted waste for offsite disposal. Ultimately, a soil cover will be constructed over the entire Subsurface Disposal Area.

CH2M-WG Idaho, contractor for the ICP, hired Santa Paula, Calif.-based Hayward Baker, Inc. (HBI), to formulate a Portland-based concrete grout and inject the material in waste locations. HBI has brought in employees and also hired six individuals from the local union to operate components of the system and provide operational support.

For additional information about the Idaho Cleanup Project, visit https://idahocleanupproject.com

ICP-10-008

Editorial Date June 15, 2010
By Brad Bugger