Evaluation of tracers for hydrologic studies at Yucca Mountain
- New Mexico Insti. of Mining and Technology, Socorro (United States)
In order to individually label different water inputs during site characterization and construction of a repository at Yucca Mountain, as many as 30 unique chemical tracers may be required. Only a handful of tracers has been proven suitable for investigations under a broad range of hydrologic and geochemical conditions. An effective tracer is nonreactive, i.e., it is not significantly sorbed nor transformed chemically during the time frame of interest, and it is present naturally at low levels or not at all. Other considerations in choosing a tracer include ease of quantitation, detection limit, environmental hazards, and cost. Tracers to be used under unsaturated conditions must be nonvolatile. Due to the need for more proven tracers for testing at Yucca Mountain (and for hydrological investigations in general), a series of laboratory experiments was performed to evaluate some new and/or little-utilized water tracers. The tracers tested included bromide, iodide, borate, and four fluorinated derivatives of benzoic acid. The emphasis was on testing tracers which could be used under unsaturated as well as saturated conditions. A complete report on the experiments described below (Bowman et al., 1990) is available from the senior author or from the US Geological Survey. 5 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.
- Research Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States). Div. of Regulatory Applications; Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States). Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses; Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Hydrology and Water Resources
- OSTI ID:
- 139524
- Report Number(s):
- NUREG/CP--0040; CONF-9101106--; ON: TI93016989
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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