WIPP site and vicinity geological field trip. A report of a field trip to the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant project in Southeastern New Mexico, June 16 to 18, 1980
The Environmental Evaluation Group is conducting an assessment of the radiological health risks to people from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. As a part of this work, EEG is making an effort to improve the understanding of those geological issues concerning the WIPP site which may affect the radiological consequences of the proposed repository. One of the important geological issues to be resolved is the timing and the nature of the dissolution processes which may have affected the WIPP site. EEG organized a two-day conference of geological scientists, on January 17-18, 1980. On the basis of the January conference and the June field trip, EEG has formed the following conclusions: (1) it has not been clearly established that the site or the surrounding area has been attacked by deep dissolution to render it unsuitable for the nuclear waste pilot repository; (2) the existence of an isolated breccia pipe at the site unaccompanied by a deep dissolution wedge, is a very remote possibility; (3) more specific information about the origin and the nature of the brine reservoirs is needed. An important question that should be resolved is whether each encounter with artesian brine represents a separate pocket or whether these occurrences are interconnected; (4) Anderson has postulated a major tectonic fault or a fracture system at the Basin margin along the San Simon Swale; (5) the area in the northern part of the WIPP site, identified from geophysical and bore hole data as the disturbed zone, should be further investigated to cleary understand the nature and significance of this structural anomaly; and (6) a major drawback encountered during the discussions of geological issues related to the WIPP site is the absence of published material that brings together all the known information related to a particular issue.
- Research Organization:
- New Mexico Environmental Improvement Agency, Santa Fe (USA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-78AL10752
- OSTI ID:
- 6873031
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/AL/10752-7; TRN: 81-000810
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
EEG review comments on the geotechnical reports provided by DOE to EEG under the stipulated agreement through March 1, 1983
Issues in establishing an aerosol radiological baseline for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico
Related Subjects
58 GEOSCIENCES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RISK ASSESSMENT
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
BRINES
DISSOLUTION
FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGY
HEALTH HAZARDS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
NEW MEXICO
ORIGIN
PILOT PLANTS
RESERVOIR ROCK
SALT DEPOSITS
TECTONICS
FAILURES
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
HAZARDS
MANAGEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
POPULATIONS
SOUTHWEST REGION
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
580300 - Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics- (-1989)
580100 - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989)