WIPP simulated DHLW tests: status and initial in situ backfill thermal conductivities
Several series of waste package performance technology experiments for simulated defense high-level waste (DHLW) packages have been emplaced and put into active operation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility. These experiments involve 18 full-size DHLW packages emplaced in heavily instrumented vertical boreholes in the salt drift floor. These tests have been in heated operation for over ten months now; the planned test duration is 3 to 7 years. A major purpose of these experiments is to evaluate the in situ materials performance (i.e., degradation or alteration) of various waste package components: metal canisters and overpacks, backfill materials, nonradioactive DHLW glass, and installed instrumentation. These evaluations are being performed under both near-reference and overtest or accelerated-aging repository conditions. This paper describes the current status of the WIPP simulated DHLW experiments, and presents initial thermal conductivity results derived from in situ themocouple (temperature) data. Current in situ backfill thermal conductivities range from 0.28 to 0.43 W/m-/sup 0/C for bentonite/sand backfills and 1.12 W//sup 0/C for crushed salt backfill, depending on maximum waste package system temperature(s). Preliminary modeling calculations of thermal conductivity have also been performed using the SINDA and COYOTE codes. The numerically derived values are generally in good agreement with the experimentally measured values, except for the first several days after experiment (heater) turn on.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 6261561
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-86-0489C; CONF-860317-30; ON: DE86007816
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste management '86, Tucson, AZ, USA, 2 Mar 1986; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
BACKFILLING
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
BENTONITE
SAND
BOROSILICATE GLASS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SALT DEPOSITS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
WASTE-ROCK INTERACTIONS
CLAYS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GLASS
MATERIALS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
WASTES
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
360603 - Materials- Properties