Defining the Level of Containment

The first two fields in the Source dialog (Number of Packages and Number of Barriers) determine the level of containment for the Source:

Number of Packages: This is the number of packages in the Source. As such, it represents the degree to which the mass in the Source is discretized (the default value is 1 package). Each package in a Source is identical with regard to its inventories and failure distributions.

The number of packages should be specified as an integer. Non-integer values are automatically truncated (internally) by GoldSim.

The purpose of discretizing the Source into packages (and subsequently defining barriers) is to facilitate simulation of barrier failure (containment). If you are not simulating barriers, simply specify the Number of Packages as 1.

Warning: If you are modeling barriers, the number of packages should be carefully specified. Many Source properties are defined on a per package basis (e.g., inventory per package). In addition, the number of packages can have important implications on the behavior of the Source.

Number of Barriers: Packages can be defined to have no barriers (e.g., soil disposed of directly in a trench), a single barrier (e.g., waste disposed of in drums); or a double barrier (e.g., an engineered waste package containing one or more secondary containers inside).

This list box therefore has three options: none, single, or double.

If "none" is selected, it indicates that there are no barriers in the package (and the Outer Barrier… and Inner Barrier… buttons will be disabled and grayed out).

If "single" is selected, it indicates that there is a single layer of containment (a single outer barrier) for the package. In this case, the Outer Barrier… button will be enabled, and the Inner Barrier… button will be disabled and grayed out.

If "double" is selected, it indicates that there are two layers of containment for the package (one or more inner containers within an outer container). In this case, both the Outer Barrier… and Inner Barrier… buttons will be enabled..