Summary of Radionuclide Reactive Transport Experiments in Fractured Tuff and Carbonate Rocks from Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site
In the Yucca Flat basin of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), 747 shaft and tunnel nuclear detonations were conducted primarily within the tuff confining unit (TCU) or the overlying alluvium. The TCU in the Yucca Flat basin is hypothesized to inhibit radionuclide migration to the highly transmissive and regionally extensive lower carbonate aquifer (LCA) due to its wide-spread aerial extent, low permeability, and chemical reactivity. However, fast transport pathways through the TCU by way of fractures may provide a migration path for radionuclides to the LCA. Radionuclide transport in both TCU and the LCA fractures is likely to determine themore »