Measurement of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and chemical transport in Yucca Mountain Tuff: Milestone Report 3044-WBS1.2.3.4.1.4.1
- Washington State Univ., Richland, WA (United States)
Hydraulic conductivities, K, were experimentally determined as a function of volumetric water content, {theta}, in tuff from the Yucca Mountain site. In addition, the retardation factor, R{sub f}, in Yucca Mountain tuff with respect to selenium, as the selenite species, was measured under unsaturated conditions. These data were used to determine the feasibility of applying a new unsaturated flow technology (UFA) to further hydrologic studies at Yucca Mountain. The UFA directly measures K({theta}) rapidly in Yucca Mountain tuff and is shown to agree well with traditional methods. Hysteresis does not appear important during this testing. Hydraulic steady-state is achieved fastest during desaturation from a saturated state. Imbibition into dry tuff requires a long time for steady-state to occur because of slow filling of the diffusion porosity which can take a few weeks. The existing UFA is a prototype, and a new design of the next generation UFA is completed that eliminates some of the earlier problems. These preliminary investigations demonstrates that the UFA is a useful investigate technique that should be used to compliment existing techniques for hydrogeochemical characterization at Yucca Mountain and other arid sites.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 140400
- Report Number(s):
- LA--12596-MS; ON: DE94004880
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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