Yucca Mountain project prototype testing
The U.S. DOE is responsible for characterizing the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada to determine its suitability for development as a geologic repository to isolate high-level nuclear waste for at least 10,000 years. This unprecedented task relies in part on measurements made with relatively new methods or applications, such as dry coring and overcoring for studies to be conducted from the land surface and in an underground facility. The Yucca Mountain Project has, since 1988, implemented a program of equipment development and methods development for a broad spectrum of hydrologic, geologic, rock mechanics, and thermomechanical tests planned for use in an Exploratory Shaft during site characterization at the Yucca Mountain site. A second major program was fielded beginning in April 1989 to develop and test methods and equipment for surface drilling to obtain core samples from depth using only air as a circulating medium. The third major area of prototype testing has been during the ongoing development of the Instrumentation/ Data Acquisition System (IDAS), designed to collect and monitor data from down-hole instrumentation in the unsaturated zone, and store and transmit the data to a central archiving computer. Future prototype work is planned for several programs including the application of vertical seismic profiling methods and flume design to characterizing the geology at Yucca Mountain. The major objectives of this prototype testing are to assure that planned Site Characterization testing can be carried out effectively at Yucca Mountain, both in the Exploratory Shaft Facility (ESF), and from the surface, and to avoid potential major failures or delays that could result from the need to re-design testing concepts or equipment. This paper will describe the scope of the Yucca Mountain Project prototype testing programs and summarize results to date. 3 figs.
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society (United States). Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Div.; American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), New York, NY (United States); US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington DC (United States); Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Coll. of Engineering and Mines
- OSTI ID:
- 137774
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-900210-Vol.2; TRN: 90:029590
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste management `90: working towards a cleaner environment: waste processing, transportation, storage and disposal, technical programs and public education, Tucson, AZ (United States), 25 Feb - 1 Mar 1990; Other Information: PBD: 1990; Related Information: Is Part Of Waste management `90: Working towards a cleaner environment: Waste processing, transportation, storage and disposal, technical programs and public education. Volume 2, HLW and LLW technology: Proceedings; Post, R.G. [ed.] [Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ (USA)]; PB: 988 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The Yucca Mountain Project Prototype Testing Program; 1989 Status report
Status report on ESF-related prototype testing