Pena blanca natural analogue project: summary of activities

Conference · Wed Dec 08 00:00:00 EST 2010

OSTI ID:1043460

Levy, Schon S ^[1]; Goldstein, Steven J ^[1]; Abdel - Fattah, Amr I ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory

The inactive Nopal I uranium mine in silicic tuff north of Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, Mexico, was studied as a natural analogue for an underground nuclear-waste repository in the unsaturated zone. Site stratigraphy was confirmed from new drill core. Datafrom site studies include chemical and isotopic compositions of saturated- and unsaturated-zone waters. A partial geochronology of uranium enrichment and mineralization was established. Evidence pertinent to uranium-series transport in the soil zone and changing redox conditions was collected. The investigations contributed to preliminary, scoping-level performance assessment modeling.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 1043460
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-10-08153; LA-UR-10-8153; TRN: US1203235
• Resource Relation: Conference: International High-Level Waste Mnagement Conference ; April 10, 2011 ; Albuquerque, NM
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
DRILL CORES
ISOTOPE SEPARATION
MEETINGS
MEXICO
MINERALIZATION
NATURAL ANALOGUE
PERFORMANCE
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
SIMULATION
SOILS
STRATIGRAPHY
TRANSPORT
TUFF
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
URANIUM MINES
WASTES
WATER
ZONES