Unclassified Sources Term and Radionuclide Data for Corrective Action Unit 97: Yucca Flat/Climax Mine, Nevada Test Site, Nevada, Revision 2
This report documents the evaluation of the information and data available on the unclassified source term and radionuclide contamination for CAU 97: Yucca Flat/Climax Mine. The total residual inventory of radionuclides associated with one or more tests is known as the radiologic source term (RST). The RST is comprised of radionuclides in water, glass, or other phases or mineralogic forms. The hydrologic source term (HST) of an underground nuclear test is the portion of the total RST that is released into the groundwater over time following the test. In this report, the HST represents radionuclide release some time after the explosion and does not include the rapidly evolving mechanical, thermal, and chemical processes during the explosion. The CAU 97: Yucca Flat/Climax Mine has many more detonations and a wider variety of settings to consider compared to other CAUs. For instance, the source term analysis and evaluation performed for CAUs 101 and 102: Central and Western Pahute Mesa and CAU 98: Frenchman Flat did not consider vadose zone attenuation because many detonations were located near or below the water table. However, the large number of Yucca Flat/Climax Mine tests and the location of many tests above the water table warrant a more robust analysis of the unsaturated zone. The purpose of this report is to develop and document conceptual models of the Yucca Flat/Climax Mine HST for use in implementing source terms for the Yucca Flat/Climax Mine models. This document presents future plans to incorporate the radionuclide attenuation mechanisms due to unsaturated/multiphase flow and transport within the Yucca Flat CAU scale modeling. The important processes that influence radionuclide migration for the unsaturated and saturated tests in alluvial, volcanic, and carbonate settings are identified. Many different flow and transport models developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), including original modeling of multiphase flow and transport by the Stoller-Navarro Joint Venture (SNJV), are integrated to form a general understanding of how the RST relates to the HST. This report is unlike the Frenchman Flat source term analysis because it does not calculate the HST for each test. Instead, this work only identifies the important processes that must be considered when the CAU-transport modeling is performed.
- Research Organization:
- Stoller-Navarro Joint Venture (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DEAC5203NA99205
- OSTI ID:
- 963433
- Report Number(s):
- S-N/99205-114; TRN: US200918%%98
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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