Conclusions regarding geotechnical acceptability of the WIPP site

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6599985

Weart, W D

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) was authorized by Congress in 1980 as an unlicensed research and development (R and D) facility to demonstrate the safe disposal of radioactive wastes arising from the defense activities and programs of the United States. WIPP is now being constructed in southeast New Mexico, using salt beds about 655 m below the surface of the ground. Construction of the full WIPP facility will not commence until a preliminary underground excavation phase, called Site and Preliminary Design Validation (SPDV), is satisfactorily concluded in the summer of 1983. This SPDV program permits confirmation of subsurface geology, in drifts at planned facility depth that extend for 1555 m in a north-south direction, and in the two vertical shafts that provide access to these drifts. The subsurface studies are nearing completion, and it is therefore appropriate to draw conclusions regarding the geotechnical acceptability of the WIPP site. Four geotechnical elements are discussed: dissolution, deformation, hydrologic regime, and natural resources.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 6599985
• Report Number(s): SAND-83-0226C; CONF-830205-5; ON: DE83006483
• 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
580300 -- Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics-- (-1989)
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
DEFORMATION
DISSOLUTION
FEDERAL REGION VI
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
HYDROLOGY
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NEW MEXICO
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SALT DEPOSITS
SITE SELECTION
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES