YUCCA MOUNTAIN SITE DESCRIPTION
The ''Yucca Mountain Site Description'' summarizes, in a single document, the current state of knowledge and understanding of the natural system at Yucca Mountain. It describes the geology; geochemistry; past, present, and projected future climate; regional hydrologic system; and flow and transport within the unsaturated and saturated zones at the site. In addition, it discusses factors affecting radionuclide transport, the effect of thermal loading on the natural system, and tectonic hazards. The ''Yucca Mountain Site Description'' is broad in nature. It summarizes investigations carried out as part of the Yucca Mountain Project since 1988, but it also includes work done at the site in earlier years, as well as studies performed by others. The document has been prepared under the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management quality assurance program for the Yucca Mountain Project. Yucca Mountain is located in Nye County in southern Nevada. The site lies in the north-central part of the Basin and Range physiographic province, within the northernmost subprovince commonly referred to as the Great Basin. The basin and range physiography reflects the extensional tectonic regime that has affected the region during the middle and late Cenozoic Era. Yucca Mountain was initially selected for characterization, in part, because of its thick unsaturated zone, its arid to semiarid climate, and the existence of a rock type that would support excavation of stable openings. In 1987, the United States Congress directed that Yucca Mountain be the only site characterized to evaluate its suitability for development of a geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
- Research Organization:
- Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- NA
- OSTI ID:
- 859409
- Report Number(s):
- TDR-CRW-GS-000001 REV 02 ICN 01; DOC.20040504.0008 DC#38967; TRN: US0600280
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
CENOZOIC ERA
EXCAVATION
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGY
GREAT BASIN
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MOUNTAINS
NUCLEAR FUELS
OPENINGS
QUALITY ASSURANCE
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOISOTOPES
TECTONICS
TRANSPORT
YUCCA MOUNTAIN