Near-surface velocity modeling at Yucca Mountain using borehole and surface records from underground nuclear explosions
- Texas Univ., El Paso, TX (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
The Department of Energy is investigating Yucca Mountain, Nevada as a potential site for commercial radioactive waste disposal in a mined geologic repository. One critical aspect of site suitability is the tectonic stability of the repository site. The levels of risk from both actual fault displacements in the repository block and ground shaking from nearby earthquakes are being examined. In particular, it is necessary to determine the expected level of ground shaking at the repository depth for large seismic sources such as nearby large earthquakes or underground nuclear explosions (UNEs). Earthquakes are expected to cause the largest ground motions at the site, however, only underground nuclear explosion data have been obtained at the repository depth level (about 350m below the ground level) to date. In this study we investigate ground motion from Nevada Test Site underground nuclear explosions recorded at Yucca Mountain to establish a compressional velocity model for the uppermost 350m of the mountain. This model is useful for prediction of repository-level ground motions for potential large nearby earthquakes.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 404801
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-95-1606; ON: DE97000838; TRN: 97:001181
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Sep 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Bounding Peak Ground Velocities for Seismic Events at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Summary of ground motion prediction results for Nevada Test Site underground nuclear explosions related to the Yucca Mountain project