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Title: NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project. Annual report, FY 1978 (should have been 1979)

Abstract

The primary thrust of the NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project during FY 1978 was to continue an evaluation of the suitability of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) for siting a commercial spent fuel or high-level waste repository. At the beginning of the year, three primary issues were identified. They are: (1) is waste isolation at the NTS compatible with weapons testing; (2) are there suitable geohydrologic settings available on the NTS; and (3) are there suitable disposal media available at NTS. The NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project has been organized primarily to address these three issues. The southwestern area of the NTS has been identified as compatible with both current and future weapons testing. The NTS and adjacent areas of southern Nevada contain media which are probably suitable for waste isolation and which occur in a region characterized by long groundwater flow paths through sorptive media. However, utilization of the southwestern part of NTS requires that several geotechnical issues be addressed intensively. These are: (1) the potential for earthquakes at and near NTS; (2) the potential for future volcanism at possible repository sites; (3) the location and nature of faults; and (4) the characterization of the groundwater flow system frommore » possible repository sites to places of discharge. Four potential disposal media available on the NTS were studied during FY 1978. Studies of one of these media, alluvium, were suspended due to the low near-field thermal conductivity. Studies of other potential media, granite, argillite, and tuff, will continue during FY 1979 since it appears that these media could be used for emplacement of commercial spent fuel or high-level waste. Geologic site investigations have and will continue to evaluate areas with these media.« less

Publication Date:
Research Org.:
USDOE Nevada Operations Office, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
59810
Report Number(s):
NVO-196-7
ON: TI86008156
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
05 NUCLEAR FUELS; RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES; RESEARCH PROGRAMS; NEVADA TEST SITE; RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL; HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES; GRANITES; ARGILLITE; TUFF; SITE SELECTION; Yucca Mountain Project

Citation Formats

NONE. NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project. Annual report, FY 1978 (should have been 1979). United States: N. p., 1979. Web. doi:10.2172/59810.
NONE. NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project. Annual report, FY 1978 (should have been 1979). United States. doi:10.2172/59810.
NONE. Mon . "NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project. Annual report, FY 1978 (should have been 1979)". United States. doi:10.2172/59810. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/59810.
@article{osti_59810,
title = {NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project. Annual report, FY 1978 (should have been 1979)},
author = {NONE},
abstractNote = {The primary thrust of the NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project during FY 1978 was to continue an evaluation of the suitability of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) for siting a commercial spent fuel or high-level waste repository. At the beginning of the year, three primary issues were identified. They are: (1) is waste isolation at the NTS compatible with weapons testing; (2) are there suitable geohydrologic settings available on the NTS; and (3) are there suitable disposal media available at NTS. The NTS Terminal Waste Storage Project has been organized primarily to address these three issues. The southwestern area of the NTS has been identified as compatible with both current and future weapons testing. The NTS and adjacent areas of southern Nevada contain media which are probably suitable for waste isolation and which occur in a region characterized by long groundwater flow paths through sorptive media. However, utilization of the southwestern part of NTS requires that several geotechnical issues be addressed intensively. These are: (1) the potential for earthquakes at and near NTS; (2) the potential for future volcanism at possible repository sites; (3) the location and nature of faults; and (4) the characterization of the groundwater flow system from possible repository sites to places of discharge. Four potential disposal media available on the NTS were studied during FY 1978. Studies of one of these media, alluvium, were suspended due to the low near-field thermal conductivity. Studies of other potential media, granite, argillite, and tuff, will continue during FY 1979 since it appears that these media could be used for emplacement of commercial spent fuel or high-level waste. Geologic site investigations have and will continue to evaluate areas with these media.},
doi = {10.2172/59810},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1979},
month = {Mon Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1979}
}

Technical Report:

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  • Geochemical laboratory and modeling support for Subtask 3.2.2, Tuff Media Investigations, is presented. Mineralogic and petrologic examination and sorption measurements have been started on tuff from Yucca Mountain hole Ue25al. Investigations with tuff from Jackass Flats hole J-13 is continuing.
  • The discussion on the management plan covers the program, responsibilities, general program schedule and logic, Office of Waste Isolation organization and facilities, management approach, administrative plan, and public affairs plan. The technical program plan includes geological studies, technical support studies, engineering studies, waste facility projects, environmental studies, system studies, data management, and international activities. The information contained in this report is obsolete and of historical interest only. (LK)
  • Geologic nuclear waste repositories have been analyzed for almost a decade to determine the conditions or situations that could lead to the initiation of radionuclide release from the waste. This problem has been approached from both the generic and system-specific perspectives, and the assessments have applied expert opinion, fault/event tree, and simulation methods. The results from these studies suggest an emerging consensus that certain scenarios are potentially important and others are unimportant. Past approaches to scenario analysis may have been limited by lack of emphasis on the concept of scenario analysis itself. Future work in the scenario analysis area shouldmore » focus on strengthening the scientific basis of the analysis and the quantitative evaluation of the uncertainties in the predictions. 25 references.« less
  • ONWI-200 is a bibliography of approved reports produced for the US Department of Energy NWTS Program Office since April 1978. This document is intended for use by the Department of Energy, state and local officials, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, subcontractors to the Office of Nuclear Waste isolation, concerned citizens, and others who have need for a comprehensive listing of reports related to a nuclear waste repository in salt. This document is divided into three parts. The first two list reports in sequence by their work breakdown structure. Part 1 lists salt-specific reports, and Part 2 lists generic reports. Partmore » 3 presents the bibliographic data for the reports in Parts 1 and 2.« less
  • Fabrication of downhole canisters for ground motion measurement has been completed. Installation of the seismic net is behind schedule. Full-capacity operation in July is still possible. Seismic-refraction data around Syncline Ridge indicate no direct evidence for a syncline structure in the upper part of the section. The combined report on the geology of the Jackass Flats-Calico Hills areas was completed in first draft. Transmittal to NV as an interim technical letter is planned for the end of April. The second scheduled scaled heater test was conducted in the Eleana argillite. The emplacement of all insturmentation for the full-scale heater testmore » was completed. Instrumentation for measuring in situ permeability at elevated temperatures was installed in the H-2 array of the Climax Heater experiment. USGS, LASL, and UNM personnel met in Denver on March 17 to review the status of tuffs as potential repository media.« less