Resource Type

YUCCA MOUNTAIN SITE DESCRIPTION (open access)

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, …
Date: April 16, 2004
Creator: Simmons, A. M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Batch sorption results for neptunium transport through Yucca Mountain tuffs. Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Program milestone 3349 (open access)

Batch sorption results for neptunium transport through Yucca Mountain tuffs. Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Program milestone 3349

We studied the sorption of neptunium onto tuffs characteristic of the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The neptunium was in the Np(V) oxidation state under oxidizing conditions in groundwaters from two wells located close to the repository site (J-13 and UE-25 p No.1). We used devitrified, vitric, zeolitic (with emphasis on clinoptilolite-rich samples), and calcite-rich tuffs characteristic of the geology of the site. Neptunium sorbed well onto calcite and calcite-rich tuffs, indicating that a significant amount of neptunium retardation can be expected under fractured-flow scenarios because of calcite coating of the fractures. Neptunium sorption onto clinoptilolite-rich zeolitic tuffs in J-13 well water (pH from 7 to 8.5) was moderate, increased with decreasing pH, and correlated to surface area and amount of clinoptilolite. Neptunium sorbed poorly onto zeolitic tuffs from UE-25 p No.1 groundwater (pH from 7 to 9) and onto devitrified and vitric tuffs from J-13 and UE-25 p No.1 waters (pH from 7 to 9). Iron oxides appeared to be passivated in tuffs, not seeming to contribute to the observed neptunium sorption, even though neptunium sorption onto synthetic iron oxide is significant.
Date: September 1, 1996
Creator: Triay, I. R.; Cotter, C. R.; Huddleston, M. H. & Leonard, D. E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOE`s Yucca Mountain studies (open access)

DOE`s Yucca Mountain studies

This booklet is about the disposal of high-level nuclear waste in the United States. It is for readers who have a general rather than a technical background. It discusses why scientists and engineers think high-level nuclear waste may be disposed of safely underground. It also describes why Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is being studied as a potential repository site and provides basic information about those studies.
Date: December 1992
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characterize Eruptive Processes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (open access)

Characterize Eruptive Processes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

This Analysis/Model Report (AMR), ''Characterize Eruptive Processes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada'', presents information about natural volcanic systems and the parameters that can be used to model their behavior. This information is used to develop parameter-value distributions appropriate for analysis of the consequences of volcanic eruptions through a potential repository at Yucca Mountain. Many aspects of this work are aimed at resolution of the Igneous Activity Key Technical Issue (KTI) as identified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC 1998, p. 3), Subissues 1 and 2, which address the probability and consequence of igneous activity at the proposed repository site, respectively. Within the framework of the Disruptive Events Process Model Report (PMR), this AMR provides information for the calculations in two other AMRs ; parameters described herein are directly used in calculations in these reports and will be used in Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA). Compilation of this AMR was conducted as defined in the Development Plan, except as noted. The report begins with considerations of the geometry of volcanic feeder systems, which are of primary importance in predicting how much of a potential repository would be affected by an eruption. This discussion is followed by one of the physical and chemical …
Date: December 20, 2001
Creator: Valentine, G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Revised mineralogic summary of Yucca Mountain, Nevada (open access)

Revised mineralogic summary of Yucca Mountain, Nevada

We have evaluated three-dimensional mineral distribution at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, using quantitative x-ray powder diffraction analysis. All data were obtained on core cuttings, or sidewall samples obtained from drill holes at and around Yucca Mountain. Previously published data are included with corrections, together with new data for several drill holes. The new data presented in this report used the internal standard method of quantitative analysis, which yields results of high precision for the phases commonly found in Yucca Mountain tuffs including opal-CT and glass. Mineralogical trends with depth previously noted are clearly shown by these new data. Glass occurrence is restricted almost without exception to above the present-day static water level (SWL), although glass has been identified below the SWL in partially zeolitized tuffs. Silica phases undergo well-defined transitions with depth, with tridymite and cristobalite occurring only above the SWL, opal-CT occurring with clinoptilolite-mordenite tuffs, and quartz most abundant below the SWL. Smectite occurs in small amounts in most samples but is enriched in two distinct zones. These zones are at the top of the vitric nonwelded base of the Tiva Canyon Member and at the top of the basal vitrophyre of the Topopah Spring Member. Our data support the …
Date: March 1, 1989
Creator: Bish, D. L. & Chipera, S. J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characterize Eruptive Processes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (open access)

Characterize Eruptive Processes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

The purpose of this scientific analysis report, ''Characterize Eruptive Processes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada'', is to present information about natural volcanic systems and the parameters that can be used to model their behavior. This information is used to develop parameter-value distributions appropriate for analysis of the consequences of volcanic eruptions through a repository at Yucca Mountain. This scientific analysis report provides information to four other reports: ''Number of Waste Packages Hit by Igneous Intrusion'', (BSC 2004 [DIRS 170001]); ''Atmospheric Dispersal and Deposition of Tephra from Potential Volcanic Eruption at Yucca Mountain, Nevada'' (BSC 2004 [DIRS 170026]); ''Dike/Drift Interactions'' (BSC 2004 [DIRS 170028]); ''Development of Earthquake Ground Motion Input for Preclosure Seismic Design and Postclosure Performance Assessment of a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, NV'' (BSC 2004 [DIRS 170027], Section 6.5). This report is organized into seven major sections. This section addresses the purpose of this document. Section 2 addresses quality assurance, Section 3 the use of software, Section 4 identifies the requirements that constrain this work, and Section 5 lists assumptions and their rationale. Section 6 presents the details of the scientific analysis and Section 7 summarizes the conclusions reached.
Date: October 4, 2004
Creator: Krier, D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Summary report on the geochemistry of Yucca Mountain and environs (open access)

Summary report on the geochemistry of Yucca Mountain and environs

This report gives a detailed description of work at Los Alamos that will help resolve geochemical issues pertinent to siting a high-level nuclear waste repository in tuff at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. It is necessary to understand the properties and setting of the host tuff because this rock provides the first natural barrier to migration of waste elements from a repository. The geochemistry of tuff is being investigated with particular emphasis on retardation processes. This report addresses the various aspects of sorption by tuff, physical and chemical makeup of tuff, diffusion processes, tuff/groundwater chemistry, waste element chemistry under expected repository conditions, transport processes involved in porous and fracture flow, and geochemical and transport modeling.
Date: December 1, 1982
Creator: Daniels, W.R.; Wolfsberg, K. & Rundberg, R.S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Radionuclide sorption in Yucca Mountain tuffs with J-13 well water: Neptunium, uranium, and plutonium. Yucca Mountain site characterization program milestone 3338 (open access)

Radionuclide sorption in Yucca Mountain tuffs with J-13 well water: Neptunium, uranium, and plutonium. Yucca Mountain site characterization program milestone 3338

We studied the retardation of actinides (neptunium, uranium, and plutonium) by sorption as a function of radionuclide concentration in water from Well J-13 and of tuffs from Yucca Mountain. Three major tuff types were examined: devitrified, vitric, and zeolitic. To identify the sorbing minerals in the tuffs, we conducted batch sorption experiments with pure mineral separates. These experiments were performed with water from Well J-13 (a sodium bicarbonate groundwater) under oxidizing conditions in the pH range from 7 to 8.5. The results indicate that all actinides studied sorb strongly to synthetic hematite and also that Np(V) and U(VI) do not sorb appreciably to devitrified or vitric tuffs, albite, or quartz. The sorption of neptunium onto clinoptilolite-rich tuffs and pure clinoptilolite can be fitted with a sorption distribution coefficient in the concentration range from 1 X 10{sup -7} to 3 X 10{sup -5} M. The sorption of uranium onto clinoptilolite-rich tuffs and pure clinoptilolite is not linear in the concentration range from 8 X 10{sup -8} to 1 X 10{sup -4} M, and it can be fitted with nonlinear isotherm models (such as the Langmuir or the Freundlich Isotherms). The sorption of neptunium and uranium onto clinoptilolite in J-13 well water …
Date: August 1, 1996
Creator: Triay, I.R.; Cotter, C.R.; Kraus, S.M. & Huddleston, M.H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Summary and Synthesis Report on Radionuclide Retardation for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project - Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Program Milestone 3784M (open access)

Summary and Synthesis Report on Radionuclide Retardation for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project - Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Program Milestone 3784M

None
Date: October 1, 1998
Creator: Meijer, Arend; Strietelmeier, Betty A.; Tait, C. Drew; Hobart, David E.; Clark, David L.; Triay, Inez R. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preliminary conceptual model for mineral evolution in Yucca Mountain (open access)

Preliminary conceptual model for mineral evolution in Yucca Mountain

A model is presented for mineral alteration in Yucca Mountain, Nevada, that suggests that the mineral transformations observed there are primarily controlled by the activity of aqueous silica. The rate of these reactions is related to the rate of evolution of the metastable silica polymorphs opal-CT and cristobalite assuming that a{sub SiO{sub 2(aq)}} is fixed at the equilibrium solubility of the most soluble silica polymorph present. The rate equations accurately predict the present depths of disappearance of opal-CT and cristobalite. The rate equations have also been used to predict the extent of future mineral alteration that may result from emplacement of a high-level nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain. Relatively small changes in mineralogy are predicted, but these predictions are based on the assumption that emplacement of a repository would not increase the pH of water in Yucca Mountain nor increase its carbonate content. Such changes may significantly increase mineral alteration. Some of the reactions currently occurring in Yucca Mountain consume H{sup +} and CO{sub 3}{sup 2{minus}}. Combining reaction rate models for these reactions with water chemistry data may make it possible to estimate water flux through the basal vitrophyre of the Topopah Spring Member and to help confirm the …
Date: December 1, 1993
Creator: Duffy, C.J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Yucca Mountain Project thermal and mechanical codes first benchmark exercise: Part 3, Jointed rock mass analysis; Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (open access)

Yucca Mountain Project thermal and mechanical codes first benchmark exercise: Part 3, Jointed rock mass analysis; Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

Thermal and mechanical models for intact and jointed rock mass behavior are being developed, verified, and validated at Sandia National Laboratories for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project. Benchmarking is an essential part of this effort and is one of the tools used to demonstrate verification of engineering software used to solve thermomechanical problems. This report presents the results of the third (and final) phase of the first thermomechanical benchmark exercise. In the first phase of this exercise, nonlinear heat conduction code were used to solve the thermal portion of the benchmark problem. The results from the thermal analysis were then used as input to the second and third phases of the exercise, which consisted of solving the structural portion of the benchmark problem. In the second phase of the exercise, a linear elastic rock mass model was used. In the third phase of the exercise, two different nonlinear jointed rock mass models were used to solve the thermostructural problem. Both models, the Sandia compliant joint model and the RE/SPEC joint empirical model, explicitly incorporate the effect of the joints on the response of the continuum. Three different structural codes, JAC, SANCHO, and SPECTROM-31, were used with the above models …
Date: October 1, 1991
Creator: Costin, L. S. & Bauer, S. J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Water levels in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1995 (open access)

Water levels in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1995

Water levels were monitored in 28 wells in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, during 1995. Seventeen wells representing 18 depth intervals were monitored periodically, generally on a monthly basis, 2 wells representing 3 depth intervals were monitored hourly, and 9 wells representing 15 depth intervals were monitored both periodically and hourly. All wells monitor water levels in Tertiary volcanic rocks except one that monitors water levels in Paleozoic carbonate rocks. Water levels were measured using calibrated steel tapes, a multiconductor cable unit, and/or pressure transducers. Mean water-level altitudes in the Tertiary volcanic rocks ranged from about 728 to about 1,034 meters above sea level during 1995. The mean water-level altitude in the well monitoring the Paleozoic carbonate rocks was about 753 meters above sea level during 1995. Mean water level altitudes were only an average of about 0.01 meters higher than 1994 mean water level altitudes. A single-well aquifer test was conducted on well UE-25 WT{number_sign}12 during August and September 1995. Well USW 0-2 was also pumped during October and November 1995, in preparation for single-well aquifer test at that well. All data were acquired in accordance with a quality-assurance program to support the reliability of the data.
Date: September 1, 1998
Creator: Graves, R. P. & Goemaat, R. L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Yucca Mountain drift scale test progress report (open access)

Yucca Mountain drift scale test progress report

The Drift Scale Test (DST) is part of the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) Thermal Test being conducted underground at the potential high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The purpose of the ESF Thermal Test is to acquire a more in-depth understanding of the coupled thermal, mechanical, hydrological, and chemical processes likely to be encountered in the rock mass surrounding the potential geological repository at Yucca Mountain. These processes are monitored by a multitude of sensors to measure the temperature, humidity, gas pressure, and mechanical displacement, of the rock formation in response to the heat generated by the heaters. In addition to collecting passive monitoring data, active hydrological and geophysical testing is also being carried out periodically in the DST. These active tests are intended to monitor changes in the moisture redistribution in the rock mass, to collect water and gas samples for chemical and isotopic analysis, and to detect microfiacturing due to heating. On December 3, 1998, the heaters in the DST were activated. The planned heating phase of the DST is 4 years, and the cooling phase following the power shutoff will be of similar duration. The present report summarizes interpretation and analysis of thermal, hydrological, chemical, …
Date: January 1, 1999
Creator: Apps, J.; Birkholzer, J.T.; Peterson, J. E.; Sonnenthal, E.; Spycher, N.; Tsang, Y. W. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chlorine-36 alidation Study at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (open access)

Chlorine-36 alidation Study at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

The amount, spatial distribution, and velocity of water percolating through the unsaturated zone (UZ) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, are important issues for assessing the performance of the proposed deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. To help characterize the nature and history of UZ flow, isotopic studies were initiated in 1995, using rock samples collected from the Miocene ash-flow tuffs in the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF), an 8-km-long tunnel constructed along the north-south extent of the repository block, and the Enhanced Characterization of the Repository Block (ECRB) Cross Drift, a 2.5-km-long tunnel constructed across the repository block (Figure 1-1, Sources: Modified from DOE 2002 [Figure 1-14] and USBR 1996). Scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) analyzed for chlorine-36 ({sup 36}Cl) in salts leached from whole-rock samples collected from tunnel walls and subsurface boreholes, and scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed for isotopes of oxygen, carbon, uranium, lead, thorium, and strontium in secondary minerals collected from subsurface fractures and lithophysal cavities. Elevated values for ratios of {sup 36}Cl to total chloride ({sup 36}Cl/CL) at the level of the proposed repository indicated that small amounts of water carrying bomb-pulse {sup 36}Cl (i.e., {sup 36}Cl/Cl ratios …
Date: August 28, 2006
Creator: Paces, J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Water Levels in the Yucca Mountain Area, Nevada 1996 (open access)

Water Levels in the Yucca Mountain Area, Nevada 1996

None
Date: May 8, 1998
Creator: United States. Department of Energy.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Water levels in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1993 (open access)

Water levels in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1993

Water levels were monitored in 28 wells in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, during 1993. Seventeen wells were monitored periodically, generally on a monthly basis, and 11 wells representing 18 intervals were monitored hourly. All wells monitor water levels in Tertiary volcanic rocks, except one that monitors water levels in Paleozoic carbonate rocks. Water levels were measured using calibrated steel tapes and pressure transducers; steel-tape measurements were corrected for mechanical stretch, thermal expansion, and borehole deviation to obtain precise water-level altitudes. Water-level altitudes in the Tertiary volcanic rocks ranged from about 728 meters above sea level east of Yucca Mountain to about 1,034 meters above sea level north of Yucca Mountain. Water-level altitudes in the well monitoring the Paleozoic carbonate rocks varied between 752 and 753 meters above sea level during 1993. Water levels were an average of about 0.04 meter lower than 1992 water levels. All data were acquired in accordance with a quality-assurance program to support the reliability of the data.
Date: July 1, 1996
Creator: Tucci, P.; Goemaat, R.L. & Burkhardt, D.J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Water levels in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1994 (open access)

Water levels in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1994

Water levels were monitored in 28 wells in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, during 1994. Twelve wells representing 13 intervals were monitored periodically, generally on a monthly basis, 6 wells representing 10 intervals were monitored hourly, and 10 wells representing 13 intervals were monitored both periodically and hourly. All wells monitor water levels in Tertiary volcanic rocks, except one, that monitors water levels in Paleozoic carbonate rocks. Water levels were measured using calibrated steel tapes, a multiconductor cable unit, and pressure transducers. Water-level altitudes in the Tertiary volcanic rocks ranged from about 728 to about 1,034 meters above sea level during 1994. The mean-annual water-level altitude in the well monitoring the Paleozoic carbonate rocks was about 753 meters above sea level during 1994. Water levels were only an average of about 0.01 meters lower than 1993 water levels. All data were acquired in accordance with a quality-assurance program to support the reliability of the data.
Date: December 31, 1996
Creator: Graves, R. P.; Tucci, P. & Goemaat, R. L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
PROBABILISTIC VOLCANIC HAZARD ANALYSIS FOR YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA (open access)

PROBABILISTIC VOLCANIC HAZARD ANALYSIS FOR YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA

None
Date: June 1, 1996
Creator: KEVIN J. COPPERSMITH, ROSEANNE C. PERMAN
System: The UNT Digital Library
Volcanism Studies: Final Report for the Yucca Mountain Project (open access)

Volcanism Studies: Final Report for the Yucca Mountain Project

This report synthesizes the results of volcanism studies conducted by scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and collaborating institutions on behalf of the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Project. An assessment of the risk of future volcanic activity is one of many site characterization studies that must be completed to evaluate the Yucca Mountain site for potential long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste. The presence of several basaltic volcanic centers in the Yucca Mountain region of Pliocene and Quaternary age indicates that there is a finite risk of a future volcanic event occurring during the 10,000-year isolation period of a potential repository. Chapter 1 introduces the volcanism issue for the Yucca Mountain site and provides the reader with an overview of the organization, content, and significant conclusions of this report. The risk of future basaltic volcanism is the primary topic of concern including both events that intersect a potential repository and events that occur near or within the waste isolation system of a repository. Future volcanic events cannot be predicted with certainty but instead are estimated using formal methods of probabilistic volcanic hazard assessment (PVHA). Chapter 2 describes the volcanic history of the Yucca Mountain region (YMR) and emphasizes …
Date: December 1, 1998
Creator: Crowe, Bruce M.; Perry, Frank V.; Valentine, Greg A. & Bowker, Lynn M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Secondary plant succession on disturbed sites at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (open access)

Secondary plant succession on disturbed sites at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

This report presents the results of a study of secondary plant succession on disturbed sites created during initial site investigations in the late 1970s and early 1980s at Yucca Mountain, NV. Specific study objectives were to determine the rate and success of secondary plant succession, identify plant species found in disturbances that may be suitable for site-specific reclamation, and to identify environmental variables that influence succession on disturbed sites. During 1991 and 1992, fifty seven disturbed sites were located. Vegetation parameters, disturbance characteristics and environmental variables were measured at each site. Disturbed site vegetation parameters were compared to that of undisturbed sites to determine the status of disturbed site plant succession. Vegetation on disturbed sites, after an average of ten years, was different from undisturbed areas. Ambrosia dumosa, Chrysothamnus teretifolius, Hymenoclea salsola, Gutierrezia sarothrae, Atriplex confertifolia, Atriplex canescens, and Stephanomeria pauciflora were the most dominant species across all disturbed sites. With the exception of A. dumosa, these species were generally minor components of the undisturbed vegetation. Elevation, soil compaction, soil potassium, and amounts of sand and gravel in the soil were found to be significant environmental variables influencing the species composition and abundance of perennial plants on disturbed sites. The …
Date: December 1, 1994
Creator: Angerer, J.P.; Ostler, W.K.; Gabbert, W.D. & Schultz, B.W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dialogs on the Yucca Mountain controversy. Special report No. 10 (open access)

Dialogs on the Yucca Mountain controversy. Special report No. 10

In an attempt to resolve the controversial issue of tectonic and hydrologic stability of the Yucca Mountain region, the National Academy of Sciences established a Panel on Coupled Hydrologic/Tectonic/HydrothermaI Systems. The Panel has recently released it`s findings in a report entitled Ground Water at Yucca Mountain: How High Can It Rise? The representation of data and the scientific validity of this report was the subject of comprehensive evaluations and reviews which has led to correspondence between Dr. Charles Archarnbeau and Dr. Frank Press, the President of the National Academy of Sciences. All such correspondence prior to April 9, 1993 is covered by TRAC Special Report No. 5, {open_quotes}Dialogs on the Yucca Mountain Controversy.{close_quotes} The present report represents a continuation of the dialog between Dr. Archambeau and Dr. Press; specifically the letter from Dr. Press to Dr. Archambeau dated April 9, 1993 and Archambeau`s response to Press, dated August 19, 1993. In addition to the correspondence between Press and Archambeau, a series of recent reports by other investigators, referred to in the correspondence from Archambeau, are included in this report and document new data and inferences of importance for resolution of the question of suitability of the Yucca Mountain site as …
Date: August 1, 1993
Creator: Schluter, C.M. & Szymanski, J.S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dialogs on the Yucca Mountain controversy. Special report No. 5 (open access)

Dialogs on the Yucca Mountain controversy. Special report No. 5

The recent, 1992, report prepared by the Panel on Coupled Hydrologic/Tectonic/Hydrothermal Systems at Yucca Mountain for the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, entitled Ground Water at Yucca Mountain: How High Can It Rise? has generated critical reviews by Somerville et al. (1992) and by Archambeau (1992). These reviews were submitted as reports to the Nuclear Waste Project Office, State of Nevada by Technology and Resource Assessment Corporation under Contract No. 92/94.0004. A copy of the review report by C. B. Archambeau was also sent to Dr. Frank Press, President of the National Academy of Sciences, along with a cover letter from Dr. Archambeau expressing his concerns with the NRC report and his suggestion that the Academy President consider a re-evaluation of the issues covered by the NRC report. Dr. Press responded in a letter to Dr. Archambeau in February of this year which stated that, based on his staff recommendations and a review report by Dr. J. F. Evernden of the United States Geological Survey, he declined to initiate any further investigations and that, in his view, the NRC report was a valid scientific evaluation which was corroborated by Evernden`s report. He also enclosed, with his …
Date: March 1, 1993
Creator: Archambeau, C.B. & Szymanski, J.S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Water levels in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1990--91 (open access)

Water levels in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1990--91

Water levels were monitored in 27 wells in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada during 1990--91. Twelve wells were monitored periodically, generally on a monthly basis, and 15 wells representing 24 intervals were monitored hourly. All wells monitor water levels in Tertiary volcanic rocks, except one that monitors levels in paleozoic carbonate rocks. Water levels were measured using calibrated steel tapes and pressure transducers; steel-tape measurements were corrected for mechanical stretch, thermal expansion, and borehole deviation to obtain precise water-level altitudes. Water-level altitudes in the Tertiary volcanic rocks ranged from about 728 meters above sea level east of Yucca Mountain to about 1,035 meters above sea level north of Yucca Mountain. Water-level altitudes in the well monitoring the Paleozoic carbonate rocks varied between 752 and 753 meters above sea level during 1990--91. All data were acquired in accordance with a quality-assurance program to support the reliability of the data.
Date: July 1, 1996
Creator: Tucci, P.; O`Brien, G.M. & Burkhardt, D.J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
SYSTHESIS OF VOLCANISM STUDIES FOR THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN SITE CHARACTERIZATION PROJECT (open access)

SYSTHESIS OF VOLCANISM STUDIES FOR THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN SITE CHARACTERIZATION PROJECT

This report synthesizes the results of volcanism studies conducted by scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and collaborating institutions on behalf of the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Project. Chapter 1 introduces the volcanism issue for the Yucca Mountain site and provides the reader with an overview of the organization, content, and significant conclusions of this report. The hazard of future basaltic volcanism is the primary topic of concern including both events that intersect a potential repository and events that occur near or within the waste isolation system of a repository. Future volcanic events cannot be predicted with certainty but instead are estimated using formal methods of probabilistic volcanic hazard assessment (PVHA). Chapter 2 describes the volcanic history of the Yucca Mountain region (YMR) and emphasizes the Pliocene and Quaternary volcanic record, the interval of primary concern for volcanic risk assessment. The distribution, eruptive history, and geochronology of Plio-Quaternary basalt centers are described by individual center emphasizing the younger postcaldera basalt (<5 Ma). The Lathrop Wells volcanic center is described in detail because it is the youngest basalt center in the YMR. The age of the Lathrop Wells center is now confidently determined to be about 75 thousand years …
Date: September 23, 1997
Creator: FV PERRY, GA CROWE, GA VALENTINE AND LM BOWKER
System: The UNT Digital Library