Download or read book Remediation of the Faultless Underground Nuclear Test written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 2 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hundreds of locations where nuclear tests were conducted underground are dramatic legacies of the cold war. The vast majority of these tests are within the borders of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), but 11 underground tests were conducted elsewhere. The Faultless test, conducted in central Nevada, is the site of an ongoing environmental remediation effort that has successfully progressed through numerous technical challenges due to close cooperation between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the State of Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP). The challenges faced at this site are similar to those of many other sites of groundwater contamination: substantial uncertainties due to the relative lack of data from a highly heterogeneous subsurface environment. Knowing when, where, and how to devote the often enormous resources needed to collect new data is a common problem, and one that can cause disputes between remediators and regulators that stall progress toward closing sites. For Faultless, a variety of numerical modeling techniques and statistical tools were used to provide the information needed for NNSA and NDEP to confidently move forward along the remediation path to site closure. A general framework for remediation was established in an agreement and consent order between DOE and the State of Nevada that recognized that no cost-effective technology currently exists to remove the source of the contaminants in the nuclear cavities. Rather, the emphasis of the corrective action is on identifying the impacted groundwater resource and ensuring protection of human health and the environment from the contamination through monitoring. As a result, groundwater flow and transport modeling is the lynchpin in the remediation effort.