Regulatory perspective on future climates at Yucca Mountain

Technical Report · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:405238

Coleman, N M; Eisenberg, N A; Brooks, D J ^[1]

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1. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)

Current regulations of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) require that any performance assessment supporting the license application for a high-level waste (HLW) repository must consider the potential for changes in hydrologic conditions caused by reasonably foreseeable climatic conditions. The requirement is important because the earth`s climate will almost certainly change significantly during the thousands of years that disposed nuclear wastes will remain hazardous. More importantly, climate controls the range of precipitation, which in turn controls the rates of infiltration, deep percolation, and groundwater flux through a geologic repository located in an unsaturated environment. Therefore, future changes in climate could significantly influence waste isolation in a repository at Yucca Mountain.

• Research Organization: American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, NY (United States); American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park, IL (United States)
• OSTI ID: 405238
• Report Number(s): CONF-960421--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CLIMATIC CHANGE
FORECASTING
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
HYDROLOGY
PERFORMANCE
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
YUCCA MOUNTAIN