Transport of gaseous {sup 14}C in a partially saturated, fractured, porous medium

Conference · Mon Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:138172

Light, W B; Chambre, P L; Lee, W W.L.; Pigford, T H ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)

The authors predict the transport of {sup 14}C from the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain using a porous medium model. Use of this model is justified if the Peclet number, which indicates equilibrium between gas in fractures and liquid in rock pores, is much less than unity. For the assumed release rates, maximum predicted concentrations of {sup 14}CO{sub 2} in rock near the ground surface are comparable to the USNRC (US Nuclear Regulatory Commission) limit for unrestricted areas. Furthermore, dilution near the ground surface as the {sup 14}CO{sub 2} enters the atmosphere will lower the concentrations by several orders of magnitude. Travel times from the repository to the surface are predicted to be hundreds to thousands of years. For a wide range of the parameters, the release rate from the source has negligible effect on the maximum concentrations at the ground surface.

• Research Organization: Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 138172
• Report Number(s): CONF-891129--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ADVECTION
BIOSPHERE
CARBON 14
CARBON DIOXIDE
CONTAINERS
DISSOLVED GASES
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
FLOW MODELS
FRACTURES
GROUND WATER
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PERFORMANCE
POROUS MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
SOURCE TERMS
WATER SATURATION
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
Yucca Mountain Project