SITE EXPLORATION AND DESIGN OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE LANDFILL IN AL-

TUWAITHA, IRAQ

Y K Bind
Department of Civil Engineering, SHIATS, Allahabad (India) –211007,
Email: yeetendra@gmail.com

Hussein Saadi Abbood

Deptt. of Site Selection of Hazardous Waste Landfill, Ministry of Science & Technology, Baghdad (Iraq)
Email: hussainsaady0@gmail.com

Kumar Venkatesh
Department of Civil Engineering, MNNIT, Allahabad (India) –211004,
Email: venkatesh@mnnit.ac.in

ABSTRACT: The present study is intended to explore the suitability of AL-Tuwaitha, Iraq to be used as disposal site
for radioactive waste to prevent the environment from ill effects of radioactivity. Two major wars of Iraq of 1991, 2003
and many small terrorist assaults caused severe damages to the infrastructures of the Iraq. Consequently, tons of
radioactive wastes were generated from these wars. From last ten years, these hazardous wastes are exposed to the
biosphere primarily due to inappropriate or lack of policies. Second, due to unavailability of suitable site and third due
to lack of experts hands for the safe disposal of these wastes. Hence, this study aims to explore the suitability of AL-
Tuwaitha to be used as potential site for disposal of radioactive waste by studying the geological and geotechnical
condition of the site. It was found from the study that the site is suitable for disposal provided existing guidelines and
suggestions from the study are strictly followed. From the site conditions, it was found that the above surface landfill
with trench concept is the most suitable confining method and at the end of study, the design of above mentioned
landfill is suggested following USEPA guidelines.

Keywords: Radioactivity, biosphere, above surface landfill and USEPA.

1. INTRODUCTION

Iraq has suffered from many destructive wars in recent past. Various hazardous wastes were generated
as a consequence 1991 and 2003 war. Most of these wastes can be categorized as the radioactive and
chemical wastes as in (Al-Taie 2013a). Depleted Uranium (DU) is one of the Low Level Radioactive
Wastes (LLW) products found abundantly in Iraq. DU is generated during enrichment of Uranium in
nuclear plants. Intermediate-Level radioactive Waste (ILW) and High-Level radioactive Wastes (HLW)
were also generated but the discussion in this paper is limited to LLW and Short-Lived Intermediate-Level
Radioactive Waste (ILW-SL). HLW and Long-Lived Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste (ILW-LL) have
stretched life span say 10,000 or more than that. Hence, they are used to be disposed in deep geological
mines as it is not possible to make any disposal system that may last for this great span of time (Pusch &
Weston, 2012). On the other hand, the life span of DU is considered in between 300 to 1000 years.
Therefore, it is possible to develop suitable repositories for safe disposal of LLW and ILW-SL (Chien,
2006).

This paper mainly focuses the study of geological and geotechnical aspects of selected area for the
landfill project. The geological conditions such as environmental, fluvial and hydrogeological conditions of
the study area were explored. The geotechnical aspects such as properties of existing soil profile,
properties of material to be used in the construction of Compacted Clay Liner (CCL) and characteristics of
earth strata from geophysical investigations were studied.

At the end, the design of hazardous landfill as per the guidelines of United States Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA) is proposed. The life span of radioactivity of DU is believed to range between
300 to 1000 years therefore the design aspect of landfill must also be adopted accordingly in order to
serve the life of landfill for this period. For instance, the consideration of freezing to desert environments
and short-term but extreme environmental condition can help in lasting performance of landfill (Brachman
and Sabir 2010).

2.SELECTION OF SITE

Reports indicate that almost 500 tons of solid and 270 tons of liquid radioactive waste is present in Iraq
(Abbas et al, 2007). It was also reported by Iraqi Ministry of Environment (MOEN 2005) that total 152
sites are heavily polluted by radioactive wastes. Fig. 1 shows total five severally contaminated sites in AL-
Tuwaitha near capital Baghdad. Tuwaitha site is located twenty kilometers to the south-east of Baghdad
city. The city is situated south of the confluence point of the river Tigris and Diyala.

Fig. 1 Contaminated sites in Iraq

Distance of Tuwaitha is around one kilometers east of the Tigris river and 3.5 kilometers south of the
Diyala river. In terms of topography, the ground surface of Tuwaitha is flat, surrounded by earthen dykes
and is situated in between 30 to 32 m from m.s.l.

3.DESIGN ASPECTS OF LANDFILL

The landfills are the safest and most economical way of containment of hazardous wastes. All hazardous
wastes disposal facilities should be designed keeping in view the care of environment and living
organisms (AL-Taie et al., 2013b). The exposure of soil and sub soil with DU must also be prevented. The
purpose of prevention is to avoid the migration of these DU elements into the groundwater. About 40
near-surface disposal facilities are presently operative in the past 35 years and 30 facilities are expected
to be in service within the forthcoming 15 years in all over the world (IAEA, 2012).

Three most important design aspects of hazardous waste landfills are its service period, waste
containment facility which is usually a geomembrane and clay liner (Reddy et al 1995). Various agencies
have defined the service period of landfills from 300 to 500 years (IAEA 1994, NRC 2000). ILW-LL and
HLW should be isolated in deep geological repositories for at least 100,000 years following International
Atomic Energy Agency regulations (Pusch and Weston, 2012).
Three main components of the hazardous waste landfill are the top cover system, bottom cover system
and leaching collection and removal system (LCRS). The top and bottom cover system are highly
important components of the landfill. They are also known as compacted clay liners (CCLs). CCLs isolate
the whole hazardous wastes from surrounding environments due to its low hydraulic conductivity. Various
organizations provide the design recommendation for compacted clay liners according to their set
standards. Table 3.1 gives the design standards for CCLs by United States Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA).

Table 1 USEPA recommendations for CCLs

S. No Property Range / Recommended Value

Percentage fines (Percentage passing 75 micron or
1 20 % - 30 % or greater than this
No. 200 sieve)
2 Plasticity index 7 % - 10 % or greater than
this
Percentage gravel (Percentage passing 4.75 mm or
3 ≤ 10 %
No. 4 sieve)
4 Maximum particle size 25-30 mm
-9
≤ 1×10 m/s for top CCL
5 Hydraulic conductivity
≤ 1×10-10 m/s for bottom CCL

Various researchers also proposes recommendations for thickness and properties of CCLs (Boynton
and Daniel 1985, Sivapullaiah et al 2000, Qian et al. 2001, Bonaparte et al. 2002, Mitchell et al. 2007 and
Rowe 2000, 2004). Another important aspect that highly influences the hydraulic performance of CCL is
the construction quality and post-construction exposure. Soil compacted at wet of optimum may create the
problem of roller movement at the time of compaction due to increase in plastic limit (Rowe 1999). Hence, it
is suggested to give suitable time interval after every compactive effort so that each compacted layer may
be properly dried.

An impermeable material usually a Geomembrane sheet is provided in between top cover system and
bottom cover system. Geomembranes can be made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), very flexible
polyethylene (VFPE), co-extruded HDPENFPE/HDPE, Flexible polypropylene (FPP) and Polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) etc.

4.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The objective of this research was to investigate the suitability of the study area to be used as the
potential site for the construction of landfill. Therefore, it was required to carry out the complete
geological and geotechnical study of the area. The results from these investigations are summarized in
the subsequent literature.

4.1 Geology of the Study Area

Al- Tuwaitha was one of the centers of Iraq Nuclear Facility of past government. Therefore, many
contaminated sites were present in this place Fig. 1. It was prudent to use this place for the construction
of landfill to avoid the exposure of DU during transportation. In addition, Tuwaitha is located near the
capital of Iraq. Therefore, it is easy to avail the required building materials and labor in less cost.

The area near Baghdad and Tuwaitha comes in under Mesopotamian plain. These plains are covered
mainly with Holocene deposits. Six boreholes ranging from 15-45 meters were excavated to study the
lithostratigraphy of the area. The analysis of these borehles shows existence of alternating sequence of
sand, clay, silt and gravel. However, the top soil is the constituent's particles of rock of Zagros-Taurus
Mountains. The weathering action and flow of Tigris and Euphrates rivers transported and deposited the
rock constituent particles in these areas in their geological past. as a whole the study area is a flood
plain which consists of Quaternary deposits. In some locations depth of Pleistocene and Holocene
deposits have found more than 250 meters.

4.2 Geotechnical Study of the Area

Three boreholes were made on the study area to study the geotechnical properties of soil. The boreholes
were excavated up to a depth of 10 m. The disturbed and undisturbed samples were collected at the
regular depth interval of 50 cm. Fig. 2 shows the soil description for various depths of soil layers. It can be
seen that more or less stiff clay was abundantly present in all the boreholes for the great depth. The stiff
clay is believed to be the most suitable soil class for the construction of landfill due to its low permeability.

Fig. 2 Soil description at Al-Tuwaitha site (Borehole 1, 2 & 3)

The liquid limit determined from Atterberg limits test (ASTM D4318: 2010d) of clayey soil ranged from 36
% to 60 % and plasticity index ranged from 14% to 31%. Clay fraction from borehole- 1 was obtained as 24
to 38%, from borehole-2 it was 18 to 47% and from borehole-3 it was 31 to 40% using particle size and
hydrometer analysis test as per ASTM D422: 2007c.

The compression index and swelling index for upper strata were 0.219 and 0.039 respectively for
borehole 1. The void ratio of this stratum is 0.70 and reduces to 0.46 after the application of loading of
1600 KN/m2 (Consolidation test ASTM D 2435-96). The compression index and swelling index for the
upper strata of borehole -2 were 0.194 and 0.075 respectively. The swelling pressure was 80 KN/m 2. The
void ratio of upper strata of borehole -2 was 0.74 and reduces to 0.48 at the load intensity of 1600 KN/m 2.
The compression index and swelling index of borehole -3 were 0.176 and 0.042 respectively. The void
ratio was 0.60 in natural state and reduces approximately to 0.37after the application of loading of about
1600 KN/m2.
Above discussion shows that all the three boreholes contained substantial amount of clay of higher
compressibility, which is good for the landfill project.

Water table was observed at a depth 3.20 m in all three boreholes. This water was salty in nature and is
not being used for drinking purposes. The farmers of remote area sometimes use this water for irrigation
purpose, which is directly or indirectly hazardous for the civilians. Therefore, it is important to select above
surface landfill from this perspective because bottom liner of subsurface landfill is located up to a depth of
three or more than three meters, which will fell directly in contact of groundwater. In addition, it is equally
important to ensure proper construction practices to prevent migration of leachate from landfill to
groundwater.

4.3 Study of Climatic conditions

Iraq has arid subtropical continental climate. The climate of Iraq is highly affected by the Mediterranean
and Arabian Gulf conditions. The whole climate is characterized by hot dry summer and cold short
winter. Dry weather is suitable from the perspective of long term performance of landfill as well as trench
concept that is proposed at the end of this unit is also suitable in such climates since crap metals in
which DU wastes are found are dumped directly in these NSR and humid weather may corrode these
wastes faster than dry weather.

4.3.1 Rainfall
According to Meteorological data of Baghdad International Airport Station the mean monthly rainfall
values ranges from 0.05 to 24.66 mm (1990 – 2010 ). Less annual rainfall in this region is suitable for
lasting performance of landfill as it gives least chances of seepage of rainwater in these landfills. Still it is
wise to provide sufficient slope on the top cover of the landfill for the safety point of view so that rainwater
may be drained off.

4.3.2 Temperature and Evaporation

The mean monthly temperature values in study area ranges from 10 oC to 36 oC. Maximum values occur
in the month of July or August and minimum in the month of December or January. Evaporation ranges
from 60 to 500 mm approximately. Evaporation rate for the entire year is shown in fig. 3. It can be seen
that the evaporation is high in comparison to annual rainfall, which is good for safe disposal of DU waste.

Fig.3 Mean monthly evaporation of 2010

4.3.3 Relative humidity

 Relative humidity plays an important role in equilibrium processes with air mass. Relative humidity
ranges from 25.5% to 70.0% for the study area. Fig. 4 shows the percentage relative humidity values
collected from Meteorological wing of Baghdad International Airport Station. It can be seen that at the
beginning and end of the year relative humidity is is higher ranging in between 55 to 65%. Most of the
rain occurs in the mid of the year therefore higher humidity values in the beginning and end of the year
will not have any potential threat for satisfactory operation of landfill.

Fig. 4 Mean monthly relative humidity of 2010.

4.3.4 Wind Speed

Wind speed does not have much effect on performance of landfills. However, top vegetative soil cover in
cases of subsurface landfill may be eroded in high wind storms and expose the top cover to the
environment. Nevertheless, the rock boulders and gravel in the second and third layer respectively may
still take care for the whole structure. The mean monthly values of wind speed ranges from 2.5 to 4.5
m/sec (Fig. 4) which is suitable for normal operation of the landfill.

Fig. 5 Mean monthly wind speed of 2010

4.4 Geophysical Investigations

Geophysical studies were conducted using the method of seismic surface. Two lines (90 m) perpendicular
each other was used to record the geophysical parameters. One line was used to measure P-wave and
the other was used to measure the S-wave. Geophones were placed at a distance of 5 meters on these
lines. The waves were produced by a hammer source of energy at the beginning of the line, at the middle
and at the end of line. The geophysical investigations were supported with a Seismograph, software
(SeisImager /2D, SeisImager /SW) and the geophones (10 Hz).

Results illustrates that the region is composed of three layers of different velocities of P-and S-wave for
the depth of ten meters. It is clear from the symmetrical curves of the fig.6 a & b that the soil layers were
horizontal, parallel and continuous and also that no cavities found in this region as delay in time of
refraction wave was not observed. It indicates that site is suitable for construction of landfill.

.
Fig.6a Distance Vs Traveltime curves of P-wave

Fig.6a Distance Vs Traveltime curves of P-wave S-wave

4.5 Design of radioactive waste landfill

The above surface landfill was found the most appropriate one due to shallow water table. It was ensured
that the disposal site fell within an area where wells for drinking water or irrigation water were not present.
The edges of landfill were confined by constructing stable and tight dikes since stress are prevailing at
these points.

The top cover of the landfill was given sufficient slope so that precipitation do not infiltrate and amount of
water retained on top may be evaporated back to the atmosphere. Construction of drainage pipe systems
for collection of percolate is usually not required in radioactive wastes landfill as proper slope on the top
cover decreases the percolation of rainwater inside the landfill. Therefore, drainage system for removal of
leachates is not provided in the proposed design.

Fig.7 Propose design of Landfill

5.Conclusions
The study was carried out to examine the suitability of AL-Tuwiatha as potential site for dumping LLW and
ILW-SL. Based on geotechnical parameters recommended by various agencies it was finally concluded
that this site is suitable provided certain guidelines are strictly followed. In addition the design of selected
surface landfill (trench concept) is also proposed at the end of results. From the obtained results the
following conclusions may be drawn-

Dry weather of Iraq is suitable from the perspective of long term performance of landfill as well as trench
concept that is proposed at the end of this unit is also suitable in such climates. The dry weather is
suitable for trench concept as the crap metals containing DU wastes corrode slower in dry weather.

The past ten years rainfall data shows very less annual rainfall in this region. Therefore least chances
exist for seepage of rainwater in these landfill. Low rainfall help in preventing the migration of leachates
into the groundwater. In addition, low rainfall is also required for satisfactory operation of compacted clay
liner.
The geotechnical parameters obtained from borehole data was also in favor of landfill construction as
most of the soil profile is made of stiff clay having very low permeability. The proposed design of above
surface landfill with trench concept is the most appropriate method for containment of DU waste in Al-
Tuawaitha.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study is the part of radioactive waste management program commenced by Ministry of Science &
Technology, Iraq. I gratefully acknowledge Mr. Emad S. Shamsaldin, Director of Radioactive Waste
Treatment and Management Directorate, Ministry of Science & Technology, Baghdad (Iraq) for his
approval to use the data of the test results.

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