NNWSI unit evaluation at Yucca Mountain, Nevada Test Site: Near field mechanical calculations using a continuum jointed rock moel in the JAC code
The Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) Project, managed by the Nevada Operations Office of the US Department of Energy, is examining the feasibility of siting a repository for high level nuclear wastes at Yucca Mountain on and adjacent to the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The work reported herein was done to support the selection, on a technical basis, of a single target repository horizon upon which to concentrate future activities. Presented in this report are the results of a comparative study between two candidate horizons: the devitrified Topopah Spring member of the Paintbrush Tuff and the nonwelded, zeolitized Tuffaceous Beds of Calico Hills. Performance of a repository sited in each candidate horizon was assessed by conducting structural calculations using a two-dimensional room-and-pillar geometry and average and limit material properties. The computer code JAC, with a constitutive model for jointed rock masses, was used to make the calculations. Based on analyses of the confining pressures in the pillar and the joint movement near the room, it is concluded that the Topopah Spring unit is more suitable than the Calico Hills unit for the placement of a nuclear waste repository. Finally, a comparison is made with a similar mine geometry sited in the Grouse Canyon Tuff, a horizon of known performance characteristics, using properties from G-Tunnel at NTS.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 60149
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--83-0070; ON: DE87011577
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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