Tunnel boring machine applications; Yucca Mountain Exploratory Studies Facility

Conference · Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:140875

Bhattacharyya, K K; McDonald, R; Saunders, R S ^[1]

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1. Nuclear Waste Management System, Morrison Knudsen Corp., TRW Environmental Safety Systems, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (US)

This paper reports that characterization of Yucca Mountain for a potential repository requires construction of an underground Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF). Mechanical excavating methods have been proposed for construction of the ESF as they offer a number of advantages over drilling and blasting at the Yucca Mountain site, including; less ground disturbance and therefore a potential for less adverse effects on the integrity of the site, creation of a more stable excavation cross section requiring less ground support, and an inherently safer and cleaner working environment. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) provides a proven technology for excavating the welded and unwelded Yucca Mountain tuffs. The access ramps and main underground tunnels form the largest part of the ESF underground construction work, and have been designed for excavation by TBM.

• OSTI ID: 140875
• Report Number(s): CONF-920430-; ISBN 0-87262-891-4; TRN: 92:033734
• Resource Relation: Conference: 3. international high level radioactive waste management (IHLRWM) conference, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 12-16 Apr 1992; Other Information: PBD: 1992; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of high level radioactive waste management; Volume 1; PB: 2425 p.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
42 ENGINEERING NOT INCLUDED IN OTHER CATEGORIES
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
TUNNELING MACHINES
CONSTRUCTION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
GROUND MOTION
EXCAVATION
PHASE STABILITY
SAFETY ANALYSIS
WORKING CONDITIONS
Yucca Mountain Project