The development of an aquatic spill model for the White Oak Creek watershed, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

This study develops an aquatic spill model applicable to the White Oak Creek watershed draining the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Hazardous, toxic, and radioactive chemicals are handled and stored on the laboratory reservation. An accidental spill into the White Oak Creek watershed could contaminate downstream water supplies if insufficient dilution did not occur. White Oak Creek empties into the Clinch River, which flows into the Tennessee River. Both rivers serve as municipal water supplies. The aquatic spill model provides estimates of the dilution at sequential downstream locations along White Oak creek and the Clinch River after an accidental spill of a liquid containing a radioactively decaying constituent. The location of the spill on the laboratory is arbitrary, while hydrologic conditions range from drought to extreme flood are simulated. The aquatic spill model provides quantitative estimates with which to assess water quality downstream from the site of the accidental spill, allowing an informed decision to be made whether to perform mitigating measures so that the integrity of affected water supplies is not jeopardized