EIS-0113_Section_11 - Hanford Site

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COMMENTS ON APPENDIX R
people may have died in a single earthquake in Miss mid 100,000 may have died in
ASSESSMENT OF LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE OF WASTE a single cyclone be Bangladesh. Within the short period of a few years after these 3.4.3.1
DISPOSAL SYSTEMS
natural disasters,: farmers we again plowing the fieldr and towns are being rebuilt.
However, If too a naturm disaster also spread high-level radioactive isotopes. and
- created an environment too contaminated to support life for thousands of years, the
N general, this is the most hypothetical epoundus.. Conclusions tie based on analytical
high degree of certainly in the analysis, the long-term predictions ou the effects on man IncMiently feasible, although at rapid ... bly higher cost than the proposed cover,
are merely putting numbers out of the ab. The followlsg comments refer to Append'¢ R: This cost increase might make the geologic dupnsel alternative more competitive
in price with the in-place stabilization slternative.
3.5.5.8 In the tables presenting the performance o1 seen alternative, definition of terms
O.e., Transport Assessment Table) should be added he the text 9. On page R:74 and in Table R.SR, the use of any Impermeable membrane on the
surface of the ground in arid areas has been proven to create increased moisture
3.5.1.27
3.5.5.8 2. A table presenting various health standards should be added. below the membrane due to cepolwy rise and condensation from air moving through
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the sell This is the experience of highway departments with impermeable paving,
3. who s a Trmmpoit Assessment Table. mining companies with pond liners, end landscapers, with plastic sheeting W areas of
expansive soh. When such so)t moisture u produced, plant roots grow into the area
4. Wiry did thit. appendix not address the performance of the various alternatives in of higher moisture even if they have to Vow .through five membrane or horizontally
terms of the chemical species which may be released from the storage sites?
beneath. it If the proposed impermeable cover over the rsdwaste Is planted with
ahauow-rooted grasses, other deeper-rooted vegetation will eventually establish on
5. At this time, groundwater models cannot be fully developed for the site because of the cover Nemeth natural migration methods... As this new vegetation grows, roots
the high degree of uncertainty in the geology; therefore, groundwater travel times will moveinto the molslwe nollectbg below. the membrane antl eventually move
cannot be accurately predicted ..
Into the waste. For example, the PEGS has documented ounce of alfalfa roots
penetrating into underground mine workings at depths of several bandied feet in
.
6. On pvges R.63, R.90, and R.93, DOB has a tendency to dismiss some Metasteophic" Nevada, because the mines formed the newest water table to Me surface in this
accident scenarios with a statement that "... waste would be a Small factor in the said region.
devastation from a giant metemits," flood,. cohnow, eto. Although obvious Net
such a destructive event would destroy ..in .. men-made atructw. and, 20. On page X66, "5 sere-ft/yr per ale" should be "12.2 acre-ft/,e per acre" end Ne
Pr obably, kill a answer of people, such destruction is temporary and such natural use of the word "erode" in Una 33 . questionable,
events have occurred numerous times throughout history. For example, 200,000
impacts nn life in the region ..old be far water. These state. cats that radiation
3.5.5.8
techniques, which may or may not be valid. As stated ta this appendix, groundwater would be a "small factor" should, therefore, be carefully reevaluated. -
trarsp rt of the contaminants is the most probable sewl. far Me telan of the
contaminants from a disposed site. Yet, there we more unknowns concerning the f . On page R.64, no probabilities are giver, for the nirplane crash scenario. 3.4.3.6
3.5.5.8
3.4.3.1
3.5.6.35
mechanisms involved In the groundwater transport scenario than in any other acentric. - .. ...
As pointed out in Appendix Y, toe construction of s vaOd groundwater model of the 8. On pages R.68 and R-B2, the -W I.ee smbilieelion" alternative most include an
Raiford site u very difficult Even. using ^consorvetive. ions,^ variations in the impenetrable cover to prevent individual maximum mutual doses for the well
hydrogeolrgy make long-term prediction with aa3' certainty very difficult. Without a drilling and excavation scenarios of 1,000 to 100,000 rem/yr. Such e cover is 3.5.1.9
6d
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