Long-term environmental monitoring is critical to ensuring public safety and combating misinformation at contaminated sites. Climate change poses additional concerns since extreme weather could re-mobilize residual contaminants. We are developing a new paradigm of environmental monitoring by integrating state-of-the-art technologies: in situ sensors, geophysics, remote sensing, contaminant/radionuclide transport simulations and machine learning.

Selected papers

Project: Advanced Long-term Monitoring Systems (ALTEMIS)

Geological disposal is required to isolate nuclear waste for thousands of years. Performance assessment models need to address large uncertainty associated with geological heterogeneity and future climate. At the same time, the existing contamination from waste disposal in the 1940s –1980s provides significant insights on radionuclide mobility and datasets for model validation. We are developing uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods, including global sensitivity analysis, Bayesian parameter estimation, surrogate modeling, and experiment-to-model UQ pipelines with radionuclide transport simulations. In parallel, we have been developing comparative analysis methodologies for quantifying the environmental impacts of nuclear waste and other energy waste.

Selected papers

Radiation measurements and monitoring in the region around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant have been performed extensively, using different platforms such as helicopter, drone, car and walk surveys. We have been developing multiscale spatiotemporal data integration methods to estimate the radiation level over the region. In addition, we have been developing a monitoring optimization method to place sensors at most effective locations.

Selected papers

Changing climate may pose a major risk at soil and groundwater contamination sites as well as shallow waste disposal cells. Extreme precipitation could, for example, mobilize residual contaminants or increase their fluxes to the surface. Or extreme events can damage remediation infrastructure and waste disposal systems. We are investigating the climate change impacts on groundwater contamination through simulations, and also developing a climate resilience evaluation framework across the 100+ Department of Energy sites.

Selected papers

Predictive understanding of watershed function and dynamics is often hindered by the heterogeneous and multiscale fabric of watersheds. To quantify interactions occurring within and across bedrock-groundwater-soil-vegetation compartments of mountainous watersheds, we are developing and using a variety of geophysical and remote sensing approaches including: 4D watershed sensing approaches, networked above-and-below ground sensing systems, functional zone constructs for characterizing watershed organization, and use of physics-based and machine learning approaches to extract watershed insights from multi-scale, multi-physics datasets. Selected papers are here.

Project: Berkeley Lab Watershed Function Scientific Area

In the 1940s, the engineers at the Hanford Site were developing strategies to store/discharge radioactive waste for minimizing its environmental impacts. In the 1950s, the first geological disposal concept was proposed; before other hazardous wastes were being regulated. We are collecting/synthesizing various stories and records related to nuclear waste disposal.