Basic data report for Drillhole AEC 7 (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - WIPP). [Lea County, New Mexico]

Technical Report · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6550995· OSTI ID:6550995

AEC 7 is a borehole drilled in western Lea County, New Mexico, in section 31, T.21S.,R.32E. AEC 7 was drilled to 3918 feet in 1974 by Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Sandia deepened the hole to 4732 ft in 1979. The borehole provided stratigraphic and lithologic information in the initial and final drilling. The borehole was used extensively for tests of borehole plugs and plugging operations. AEC 7 penetrated, in descending order, Holocene sands and Mescalero caliche (8 ft), Santa Rosa Sandstone (109 ft), Dewey Lake Red Beds (542 ft), Rustler Formation (325 ft), Salado Formation (2014 ft), Castile Formation (1521 ft), and the upper Bell Canyon Formation (197 ft). Cores were obtained from much of the borehole. An extensive suite of geophysical logs provides information on stratigraphy, lithology, and structure. Beds were in normal stratigraphic sequence and without structural deformation except in the lower Castile. Anhydrite II and Halite II appear to be repeated in the borehole. This section was penetrated during deepening by Sandia; the structural complication is consistent with deformation found nearby in ERDA 6. The potential site on which AEC 7 is located was abandoned in 1976 after ERDA 6 was drilled. The WIPP is a demonstration facility for the disposal of transuranic (TRU) waste from defense programs. The WIPP will also provide a research facility to investigate the interactions between bedded salt and high level wastes.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA); D'Appolonia Consulting Engineers, Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 6550995
• Report Number(s): SAND-79-0268; ON: DE83005889
• 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
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100 -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
BOREHOLES
CAVITIES
DATA
DATA COMPILATION
FEDERAL REGION VI
GAMMA LOGGING
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
HYDROLOGY
INFORMATION
LITHOLOGY
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NEW MEXICO
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVITY LOGGING
STRATIGRAPHY
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WELL LOGGING