Geotechnical activities in the waste handling shaft. Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) project, southeastern New Mexico

Technical Report · Mon Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6410245

Holt, R M; Powers, D W

The waste handling shaft (waste shaft) at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site is an enlargement of the drilled, Site and Preliminary Design Validation (SPDV) ventilation shaft. Geotechnical activities in the waste shaft were designed to confirm the SPDV ventilation shaft mapping results and to provide additional information about identified zones of interest. The activities included identification of instrument locations, geologic inspections of the exposed shaft surface during sinking operations, reconnaissance geologic mapping of the waste shaft sump, and detailed geologic mapping in identified zones of interest. These activities were carried out concurrently with construction. The results of the geologic inspections in the waste shaft and the reconnaissance geologic mapping in the waste shaft sump correlate well with previous characterizations. However, the detailed 360/sup 0/ geologic mapping performed in several zones of interest did not reveal post-depositional dissolution features, thought to occur at several stratigraphic horizons in the Rustler Formation at the WIPP site. At the waste shaft, zones previously identified as dissolution residues in nearby boreholes contained pronounced primary sedimentary features.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (USA); Texas Univ., El Paso (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-78AL05346
• OSTI ID: 6410245
• Report Number(s): WTSD-TME-038; ON: DE86004328
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
FEDERAL REGION VI
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NEW MEXICO
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PILOT PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
SALT DEPOSITS
SHAFT EXCAVATIONS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
WIPP