Prospects for regional groundwater contamination due to karst landforms in Mescalero caliche at the WIPP site near Carlsbad, New Mexico
Plutonium from nuclear weapons production will be permanently buried in Permian salt beds at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), located in the Nash Draw watershed. Overlying the salt beds are cavernous Rustler dolomite aquifers, the most likely flow paths for contaminated water from WIPP to the biosphere. Overlying the Rustler are sandstones, siltstones, Mescalero caliche, and windblown sand. The WIPP site contains thousands of closed topographic depressions. If some are karst features, the ability of WIPP to isolate nuclear waste cannot be demonstrated. A water balance and geochemical analysis of the Nash Draw watershed and nearby brine springs were undertaken to determine: (1) which Rustler aquifers discharge where, and in what quantities; (2) the rates of evapotranspiration and natural groundwater recharge; (3) the most likely discharge point for contaminated water from WIPP. Laguna Grande, a natural salt lake in Nash Draw, is the outlet for the Rustler dolomite aquifers and for plutonium contaminations from WIPP. The recharge time for the Rustler may be only 6 to 8 years. WIPP is unsuitable for nuclear waste isolation because: (1) Rustler groundwater flow paths and travel times are inherently unpredictable; (2) caliche and sandstones allow rainwater recharge of the Rustler; (3) pressurized brine underneath WIPP can carry dissolved waste up the WIPP shafts to the Rustler; (4) geologic barriers between the brine and WIPP are unreliable; and (5) WIPP is vulnerable to human intrusion.
- Research Organization:
- Oregon Univ., Eugene (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 7243883
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
GROUND WATER
CONTAMINATION
SITE SELECTION
WIPP
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
WATERSHEDS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
GEOCHEMISTRY
CHEMISTRY
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PILOT PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
520300 - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1989)
580100 - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989)