The exploratory studies facility (ESF) at Yucca Mountain - Description and status
Technical Report
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OSTI ID:111731
- Department of Energy, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
- Morrison Knudsen Corporation, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
The Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada will be a 25 kilometer underground network of inclined ramps, tunnels, and test alcoves. It will serve as an underground laboratory for the execution of a testing program conceived to assess the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a site to host a potential high level nuclear waste repository. This paper contains a description of the ESF, a summary of the major types of tests currently planned, and a report on the current status of the ongoing design and construction activities. The ESF is being designed and constructed in phases. Currently, the Detailed Design, or {open_quotes}Title II Design{close_quotes} is centered on the second of ten major design packages. Construction has begun on excavation of the {open_quotes}starter tunnel{close_quotes} for a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) expected to begin operation in late FY 1994. The EFS program will provide information critical to the evaluation of Yucca Mountain as a potential repository site, and will house a suite of state-of-the-art tests designed to gather this information. The ESF is a one of a kind opportunity to examine, in minute detail, all facets of a sites` geology; its thermal, mechanical, and hydrologic properties; and to study the linkages between these properties.
- Research Organization:
- Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ (United States). Coll. of Engineering and Mines; New Mexico State Univ., University Park, NM (United States); Waste-Management Education and Research Consortium (WERC), Las Cruces, NM (United States); USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 111731
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940225--Vol.1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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