Potential fast paths along faults in the Calico Hills unit at Yucca Mountain
- Univ. of California, Berkeley (United States)
Potential fast flow and transport paths comprising near vertical fractures or faults are one of the most important features affecting the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a site for a potential permanent repository of high-level radioactive waste. Of the unsaturated tuff units at Yucca Mountain, the Calico hills nonwelded tuff unit is relatively less fractured and is further away from repository-induced perturbations, in comparison with the Topopah Spring welded tuff units. Observations in the Tunnel Bed units from the Defense Nuclear Agency tunnels at Rainier Mesa indicate that major flow paths have short travel times for the transport of meteoric water through the vadose zone, and the potential fast path features are spatially infrequent. The presence of similiar fast paths cannot be ruled out by existing borehole data from Yucca Mountain. In this study, the vertical and lateral distribution of vitric and zeolitic tuff sections in the Calico Hills unit above the water table, and the vitrophyre at the base of the Topopah Spring unit are evaluated.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 127106
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9504179--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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