Seismic studies at a potential deep nuclear waste repository site within the Columbia River basalt group, Pasco, Basin
A dense seismic network, including surface and borehole instruments, is being installed to characterize the seismicity of a proposed mined repository in Columbia River basalt on the Hanford Site. There are 11 seismic stations currently being operated by the Basalt Waste Isolation Project (BWIP), including four 1-Hz vertical surface stations, six 2-Hz 3-component surface stations, and one 4.5-Hz 3-component borehole instrument operated at a depth of 1100 m. The signal from these stations is frequency modulation telemetered to a central location, and is recorded at 200 samples/sec on an event-triggered digital recording system. Eight to 10 additional shallow (200 to 300 m) borehole seismometers may be added, pending a review of the repository network requirements prior to construction, and nine additional surface instruments are operated in support of other nuclear projects. The repository network presently has a station spacing of 5 to 10 km, compared to 25 km provided by the University of Washington (UW) regional network. Regional monitoring has observed the occurrence of shallow earthquake swarm activity in the basalts. The objective of the site-specific monitoring is to investigate the location of low-level (magnitude greater than or equal to 0) events, to search for zones of stress release, to measure the seismic moments and stress drops of the sources, and to evaluate the impacts of such microearthquakes on repository performance.
- Research Organization:
- Rockwell International Corp., Richland, WA (USA). Rockwell Hanford Operations
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-77RL01030
- OSTI ID:
- 6159781
- Report Number(s):
- RHO-BWI-SA-178P; CONF-8111147-1; ON: DE83009332
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
58 GEOSCIENCES
580201* -- Geophysics-- Seismology & Tectonics-- (1980-1989)
BASALT
COLUMBIA RIVER
FEDERAL REGION X
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HANFORD RESERVATION
IGNEOUS ROCKS
MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RIVERS
ROCKS
SEISMICITY
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
TECTONICS
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
VOLCANIC ROCKS
WASHINGTON
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT