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ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRUCTION AND REMEDIATION Jet Grouting The Idaho National Engineering Lab (INEL) facility located approximately forty miles west of Idaho Falls, includes a number of temporary repositories for radioactive waste resultant from their years of nuclear research activities. With these wastes targeted for removal to permanent repositories and/or encapsulation, a number of processes have been evaluated at the site to determine their efficacy in this regard.
Geo-Con was contracted to perform the fieldwork for one such program to evaluate the suitability of the jet grouting method for the in-situ encapsulation of these wastes with the injection of a proprietary grout mixture. The initial phase of the work involved the installation of a number of jet grouting column installations at an uncontaminated test area to optimize grout injection parameters and assure compliance with program goals, including no exposure of workers, minimization of grout return to the surface, and no spreading of potentially contaminated materials. Contaminants of concern (COC) included heavy metals and VOCs.
The second phase consisted of grout emplacement within one of the acid pits located at the facility. This work was carried out in accordance with procedures developed in the initial phase and was conducted under stringent safety and radiological surveillance conditions. All work was completed during the summer of 1997.
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