Sunil Mehta, PhD
Senior Scientist

509-946-9898
smehta@intera.com

PhD, Geology, University of Kentucky, 2000
MS, Geology, University of Louisiana, 1996
MSc, Geology, University of Poona, India, 1990
BSc, Zoology and Geology, University of Jodhpur, India, 1988

Sunil Mehta is a Senior Hydrogeologist with over 15 years of experience in the areas of flow and transport modeling, performance assessment modeling, uncertainty analysis, and reactive transport modeling. He has gained this experience on projects involving deep geologic isolation of high-level radioactive wastes, environmental restoration of Superfund sites in accordance with RCRA and CERCLA regulations, and water resource evaluations. Dr. Mehta has 10 years of experience in designing, developing, and applying numerical models to evaluate the performance of radioactive waste storage facilities. This includes developing reactive transport models for transuranics in aquifers impacted by river stage fluctuations, conducting process and component modeling (e.g., unsaturated and saturated zone flow, colloid facilitated transport), and combining these models into comprehensive assessment tools used to forecast post-closure performance of storage facilities in a probabilistic framework. In the area of environmental restoration, he has performed hydrogeological studies and groundwater flow and contaminant transport modeling to support the design and optimization of remedial systems for addressing soils and groundwater contaminated by uranium, chromium, and chlorinated solvents. His water resources experience includes evaluating dissolution of bedded salt deposits along topographically induced flow paths using density-dependent solute transport models, delineating flow paths using environmental isotopes, and evaluating water quality for long-term consumptive use.