Research at Little forest legacy site
ANSTO is responsible for the Little Forest Legacy Site (LFLS) located within the ANSTO Buffer Zone boundary. This site, formerly known as the Little Forest Burial Ground (LFBG), was used by the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC) during the 1960’s to dispose of waste containing low levels of radioactivity and beryllium oxide (non-radioactive) in a series of shallow trenches. There has been regular monitoring of the site since 1966 and the results have been reported in ANSTO’s environmental monitoring reports.
A science research project at the site is being implemented by a large team of ANSTO scientists, in conjunction with a number of researchers from several universities. The project aims to carry out detailed studies of the status of the site by:
- Assessing the available information and monitoring results for LFLS
- Sampling and analysis of groundwaters, soils and vegetation
- Characterising the site in detail using a range of scientific techniques
- Installing an experimental trench facility at the site to investigate the chemical and hydrogeological behaviour of the surface layers near the trenched area
- Assessing possible remediation options for the site
The research applies advanced analytical techniques, such as accelerator mass spectrometry, which have not been employed before in the routine environmental monitoring carried out at the LFLS. The results of this work are being reported, where appropraite, in international scientific journals. The project will also be summarised in various ANSTO reports (including the regular environmental monitoring reports). The following report, which is available on ANSTO's repository, provides a background to the research which is being undertaken.
Payne, T. E. Background Report on the Little Forest Burial Ground Legacy Waste Site; ANSTO/E-780; Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation: 2012
Geophysical survey using ground penetrating radar at Little Forest Legacy Site in 2009.
Recent augering at the LFLS site, undertaken during March 2017.
Selected papers from ANSTO’s research at LFLS which have been published in international journals
- J.R. Twining, C.E. Hughes, J.J. Harrison, S. Hankin, J. Crawford, M. Johansen and L. Dyer (2011). Biotic, temporal and spatial variability of tritium concentrations in transpirate samples collected in the vicinity of a near-surface low-level nuclear waste disposal site and nearby research reactor. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 102: 551-558.
- C.E. Hughes, D.I. Cendon, J.J. Harrison, S. Hankin, M.P. Johansen, T.E. Payne, M. Vine, R.N. Collins, E. Hoffmann, T. Loosz (2011). Movement of a tritium plume in shallow groundwater at a legacy low level radioactive waste disposal site in eastern Australia. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 102: 943-952.
- M.P. Johansen, C.L. Barnett, N.A. Beresford, J.E. Brown, M. Èerne, B.J. Howard, S. Kamboj, D.-K. Keum, B. Smodiš, J.R. Twining, H. Vandenhove, J. Vives i Batlle, M.D. Wood, C. Yu. Assessing doses to terrestrial wildlife at a radioactive waste disposal site: Inter-comparison of modelling approaches. Science of the Total Environment, 427-428 (2012): 238–46.
- Timothy E. Payne, Jennifer J. Harrison, Catherine E. Hughes, Mathew P. Johansen, Sangeeth Thiruvoth, Kerry L. Wilsher, Dioni I. Cendón, Stuart I. Hankin, Brett Rowling, and Atun Zawadzki (2013). Trench ‘Bathtubbing’ and Surface Plutonium Contamination at a Legacy Radioactive Waste Site. Environmental Science & Technology, 47, 13284-13293. dx.doi.org/10.1021/es403278r.
- A. Ikeda-Ohno, J.J. Harrison, S. Thiruvoth, K. Wilsher, H.K.Y. Wong, M.P. Johansen, T.D.Waite, and T.E. Payne (2014). Solution Speciation of Plutonium and Americium at an Australian Legacy Radioactive Waste Disposal Site. Environmental Science and Technology, 48: 10045-10053. DOI: 10.1021/es500539t
- D.I. Cendón, C.E. Hughes, J.J. Harrison, S.I. Hankin, M.P. Johansen, T.E. Payne, H. Wong, B. Rowling, M. Vine, K. Wilsher, A. Guinea and S. Thiruvoth (2015). Hydrogeochemical and isotopic characterisation of a low level radioactive waste site adjacent to landfills. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 62: 123-141.
