Repository-heat-driven hydrothermal flow at Yucca Mountain, Part 1: Modeling and analysis
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
To safely and permanently store high-level nuclear waste, the potential Yucca Mountain repository site must mitigate the release and transport of radionuclides for tens of thousands of years. In the failure scenario of greatest concern, water would contact a waste package, accelerate its failure rate, and eventually transport radionuclides to the water table. Analyses have demonstrated that (a) the ambient hydrological system will be dominated by repository-heat-driven hydrothermal flow for tens of thousands of years and (b) the only significant source of liquid water is from nonequilibrium fracture flow, driven either by meteoric sources or by the condensation of repository-heat-driven flow of water vapor. For sub-boiling conditions, the infiltration of meteoric water and condensate drainage are controlled by the highly heterogeneous distribution of hydrological properties, while for above-boiling conditions, they are largely determined thermodynamically. In a concept called the ``extended-dry repository,`` the heat of radioactive decay generates a region of above-boiling temperatures around the repository, thereby extending the time before liquid water can contact a waste package. It is also found that the magnitude of repository-heat-driven, buoyant, liquid-phase convection in the saturated zone is more dependent on the total mass of emplaced spent nuclear fuel (SNF) than on the details of SNF emplacement, such as the areal power density (expressed in kilowatts per acre) or SNF age.
- OSTI ID:
- 140403
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Vol. 104, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: Dec 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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The analysis of repository-heat-driven hydrothermal flow at Yucca Mountain
The analysis of repository-heat-driven hydrothermal flow at Yucca Mountain
Related Subjects
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
HEAT TRANSFER
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
HYDROLOGY
POROUS MATERIALS
MITIGATION
GROUND WATER
NUCLEAR DECAY
TUFF
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
WATER VAPOR
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
Yucca Mountain Project