Authors
Oliver Kuras, Paul Wilkinson, Phil Meldrum, Lucy Oxby, Sebastian Uhlemann, Jonathan Chambers, Andrew Binley, James Graham, Gareth Dewey, Nick Atherton
Description
A full-scale field trial of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) technology has been undertaken in a controlled experiment at the Magnox Swarf Storage Silos (MSSS), part of the legacy ponds and silos at the Sellafield Site in Cumbria, UK. The trial constitutes the first application of ERT monitoring at a UK nuclear licensed site. Full 4D ERT processing provided images of resistivity changes occurring since a baseline date, which have revealed likely pathways of silo liquor simulant flow in the vadose zone and upper groundwater system. These pathways were found to be compatible with historic contamination detected in sediment cores retrieved from the trial boreholes. The ERT results have enhanced our conceptualization of likely leak behavior and contaminant transport in the shallow subsurface at the MSSS.
Scholar articles