Drill-back studies examine fractured, heated rock

Conference · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:137704

Wollenberg, H A; Flexser, S; Myer, L R

To investigate the effects of heating on the mineralogical, geochemical, and mechanical properties of rock by high-level radioactive waste, cores are being examined from holes penetrating locations where electric heaters simulated the presence of a waste canister, and from holes penetration natural hydrothermal systems. Results to date indicate the localized mobility and deposition of uranium in an open fracture in heated granitic rock, the mobility of U in a breccia zone in an active hydrothermal system in tuff, and the presence of U in relatively high concentration in fracture-lining material in tuff. Mechanical -- property studies indicate that differences in compressional- and shear-wave parameters between heated and less heated rock can be attributed to differences in the density of microcracks. Emphasis has shifted from initial studies of granitic rock at Stripa, Sweden to current investigations of welded tuff at the Nevada Test Site. 7 refs., 8 figs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 137704
• Report Number(s): LBL-28336; CONF-900406-56; ON: DE90009198; TRN: 90:010314
• Resource Relation: Conference: 1. international topical meeting on high-level radioactive waste management, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 8-12 Apr 1990; Other Information: PBD: Jan 1990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ROCKS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
URANIUM
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
MINERALOGY
GEOCHEMISTRY
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
BOREHOLES
HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS
TUFF
NEVADA TEST SITE
QUARTZ MONZONITE
FISSION TRACKS
THORIUM
SEISMIC S WAVES
Yucca Mountain Project