Impact of Proposed Disturbed Rock Zone Conceptual Model Modifications to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Performance Assessment
- Sandia National Laboratories, Carlsbad, NM (United States)
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) have recently proposed a set of updates that integrate data from recent site characterization studies to two conceptual models for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's Performance Assessment (WIPP PA) program. This paper discusses the changes to the Disturbed Rock Zone (DRZ) model, which describes the macroscopic manifestation of grain-scale microcracks and larger macro-cracks that are created by induced stresses in the salt surrounding excavations. The DRZ, as modeled in WIPP PA, is an important component of the repository system because its properties affect the quantity of available brine and its ability to enter the waste areas as well as the connectivity of panels after closure. The DOE and SNL have proposed decreasing the region that represents the DRZ in WIPP PA. Additionally, it has been proposed to make the permeability of DRZ a time-dependent quantity to reflect the long-term behavior. In this paper, the implementation of the proposed DRZ model changes is outlined, and the impact of the DRZ modifications on the long-term performance of the WIPP is discussed. The DRZ modifications generally reduced the amount of brine that entered into the repository, as well as reduced the pressure in the repository, except for scenarios in which a pressurized brine pocket was encountered. Overall, the saturation and pressure changes affected the frequency and magnitude of the direct brine and spalling volumes. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9 - 332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21326041
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US--10-WM-08090
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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