This report describes past and planned geophysical activities associated with the Yucca Mountain Project and is intended to serve as a starting point for integration of geophysical activities. This report relates past results to site characterization plans, as presented in the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Plan (SCP). This report discusses seismic exploration, potential field methods, geoelectrical methods, teleseismic data collection and velocity structural modeling, and remote sensing. This report discusses surface-based, airborne, borehole, surface-to-borehole, crosshole, and Exploratory Shaft Facility-related activities. The data described in this paper, and the publications discussed, have been selected based on several considerations; location with respect to Yucca Mountain, whether the success or failure of geophysical data is important to future activities, elucidation of features of interest, and judgment as to the likelihood that the method will produce information that is important for site characterization. 65 refs., 19 figs., 12 tabs.

Numerical analysis is used to identify the physical phenomena associated with barometrically driven gas (air and water vapor) flow through unsaturated fractured rock at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Results from simple finite difference simulations indicate that for a fractured rock scenario, the maximum velocity of air out of an uncased 10 cm borehole is 0.002 m s{sub {minus}1}. An equivalent porous medium (EPM) model was incorporated into a multiphase, multicomponent simulator to test more complex conceptual models. Results indicate that for a typical June day, a diurnal pressure wave propagates about 160 m into the surrounding Tiva Canyon hydrogeologic unit. Dry air that enters the formation evaporates water around the borehole which reduces capillary pressure. Multiphase countercurrent flow develops in the vicinity of the hole; the gas phase flows into the formation while the liquid phase flows toward the borehole. The effect occurs within 0.5 m of the borehole. The amount of water vapor leaving the formation during 1 day is 900 cm{sup 3}. This is less than 0.1% of the total recharge into the formation, suggesting that the barometric effect may be insignificant in drying the unsaturated zone. However, gas phase velocities out of the borehole (3 m s{sup {minus}1}), …

The US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), has initiated a waste management system study to identify the impacts of the presence or absence of a monitored retrievable storage facility (hereinafter referred to as ``MRS``) on system costs and program schedules. To support this study, life-cycle cost estimates and construction schedules have been prepared for the surface and underground facilities and operations geologic nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada. Nine different operating scenarios (cases) have been identified by OCRWM for inclusion in this study. For each case, the following items are determined: the repository design and construction costs, operating costs, closure and decommissioning costs, required staffing, construction schedules, uncertainties associated with the costs and schedules, and shipping cask and disposal container throughputs. This document contains A-D.

The analysis of the risks of transporting irradiated nuclear fuel to a federal repository, Appendix A of the DOE Environmental Assessment for Yucca Mountain (DOE84), is based on the RADTRAN model and input parameters. The RADTRAN computer code calculates the radiation exposures and health effects under normal or incident-free transport, and over all credible accident conditions. The RADTRAN model also calculates the economic consequences of transportation accidents, though these costs were not included in the Department`s Environmental Assessment for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository.

Leaky faults provide a flow path for fluids to move underground. It is very important to characterize such faults in various engineering projects. The purpose of this work is to develop mathematical solutions for this characterization. The flow of water in an aquifer system and the flow of air in the unsaturated fault-rock system were studied. If the leaky fault cuts through two aquifers, characterization of the fault can be achieved by pumping water from one of the aquifers, which are assumed to be horizontal and of uniform thickness. Analytical solutions have been developed for two cases of either a negligibly small or a significantly large drawdown in the unpumped aquifer. Some practical methods for using these solutions are presented. 45 refs., 72 figs., 11 tabs.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) working under an Interagency agreement with the Department of Energy is engaged in a broad geoscience program to assess and identify a potential repository for high level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada. The USGS program, referred to as the Yucca Mountain Project, or YMP, consists of integrated geologic, hydrologic and geophysical studies which range in nature from site specific to regional. This report is an evaluation of different acquisition methods for future regional seismic reflection studies to be conducted in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain, located in the southwestern corner of the Nevada Test Site (NTS). In January 1988, field studies were conducted to investigate the feasibility of using the common-depth point (CDP) seismic reflection method to map subsurface geological horizons within the Amargosa Desert, Nye County, Nevada. The goal of the field study was to investigate which seismic reflection method(s) should be used for mapping shallow to lower-crustal horizons. Therefore, a wide-variety of field acquisition parameters were tested, included point versus linear receiver group arrays; Vibroseis (service and trademark of Conoco, Inc.) versus explosive sources; Vibroseis array patterns; and Vibroseis sweep and frequency range. 31 refs., 33 figs., 8 tabs.

Mineralogical, textural and compositional data accompanying greenschist facies metamorphism (to 300{degrees}C) of basalts of the East Rift Zone (ERZ), Kilauea, Hawaii may be evaluated relative to published and experimental results for the surface corrosion of borosilicate glass. The ERZ alteration sequence is dominated by intermittent palagonite, interlayered smectite-chlorite, chlorite, and actinolite-epidote-anhydrite. Alteration is best developed in fractures and vesicles where surface reaction layers root on the glass matrix forming rinds in excess of 100 microns thick. Fractures control fluid circulation and the alteration sequence. Proximal to the glass surface, palagonite, Fe-Ti oxides and clays replace fresh glass as the surface reaction layer migrates inwards; away from the surface, amphibole, anhydrite, quartz and calcite crystallize from hydrothermal fluids in contact with the glass. The texture and composition of basaltic glass surfaces are similar to those of a SRL-165 glass leached statically for sixty days at 150 {degrees}C. While the ERZ reservoir is a complex open system, conservative comparisons between the alteration of ERZ and synthetic borosilicate glass are warranted. 31 refs., 2 figs.

This report combines six work units performed in FY`85--86 by the Copper Development Association and the International Copper Research Association under contract with the University of California. The work includes literature surveys and state-of-the-art summaries on several considerations influencing the feasibility of the use of copper-base materials for fabricating high-level nuclear waste packages for the proposed repository in tuff rock at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The general conclusion from this work was that copper-base materials are viable candidates for inclusion in the materials selection process for this application. 55 refs., 48 figs., 22 tabs.

Measurements of {sup 36}Cl in cuttings from a borehole that was drilled 387 m into unsaturated tuffs indicate the possible detection of significant radioactive decay of cosmogenic {sup 36}Cl in two of the samples. However, the {sup 36}Cl/Cl ratio was found to vary with the amount of pulverization of the cuttings. Work is in progress to separate the {sup 36}Cl/Cl data into cosmogenic and in situ components. The cosmogenic component will be used to trace very slow water movements through the unsaturated zone. Bomb pulse {sup 36}Cl was observed as deep as 153 m, and this identification is not constrained by the problem with pulverization. This work shows the efficacy of {sup 36}Cl measurements for detecting modern water movements deep in the unsaturated zone. 9 refs., 3 tabs.

The Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Waste Materials and Environment Modeling (WMEM) Program has been assigned the task of helping the DOE formulate and certify analytical tools needed to support and/or strengthen the Waste Package Licensing Strategy. One objective of the WMEM program is to perform qualitative and quantitative analyses of irradiated Zircaloy cladding. This progress report presents the early findings of an on-going literature evaluation and the results of the numerical implementation of two models of Zircaloy creep. The report only addresses cladding degradation modes within intact, dry waste containers. Additional degradation modes will be considered when the study is expanded to include moist environments and partly failed containers. Further updates of the present analyses will also be provided.

The formation constants for the reactions PuO{sub 2}{sup +} + H{sub 2}O = PuO{sub 2}(OH) + H{sup +} and PuO{sub 2}{sup +} + CO{sub 3}{sup 2} = PuO{sub 2}(CO{sub 3}){sup {minus}} were determined in aqueous sodium perchlorate solutions by laser-induced photoacoustic spectroscopy. The molar absorptivity of the PuO{sub 2}{sup +} band at 569 nm decreased with increasing hydroxide concentration. Similarly, spectral changes occurred between 540 and 580 nm as the carbonate concentration was increased. The absorption data were analyzed by the non-linear least-squares program SQUAD to yield complexation constants. Using the specific ion interaction theory, both complexation constants were extrapolated to zero ionic strength. These thermodynamic complexation constants were combined with the oxidation-reduction potentials of Pu to obtain Eh versus pH diagrams. 120 refs., 35 figs., 12 tabs.

Franklin Lake playa is one of the principal discharge areas of the Furnace Creek Ranch-Alkali Flat ground-water-flow system in southern Nevada and adjacent California. Yucca Mountain, Nevada, located within this flow system, is being evaluated by the US Department of Energy to determine its suitability as a potential site for a high-level nuclear-waste repository. To assist the US Department of Energy with its evaluation of the Yucca Mountain site, the US Geological Survey developed a parameter-estimation model of the Furnace Creek Ranch-Alkali Flat ground-water-flow system. Results from sensitivity analyses made using the parameter-estimation model indicated that simulated rates of evapotranspiration at Franklin Lake playa had the largest effect on the calculation of transmissivity values at Yucca Mountain of all the model-boundary conditions and, therefore, that evapotranspiration required careful definition. 72 refs., 59 figs., 26 tab.

Volcanic rock samples collected from the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, between 1960 and 1985 were analyzed by thin section to obtain petrographic mode data. In order to provide rapid accessibility to the entire database, all data from the cards were entered into a computerized database. This computer format will enable workers involved in stratigraphic studies in the Nevada Test Site area and other locations in southern Nevada to perform independent analyses of the data. The data were compiled from the mode cards into two separate computer files. The first file consists of data collected from core samples taken from drill holes in the Yucca Mountain area. The second group of samples were collected from measured sections and surface mapping traverses in the Nevada Test Site area. Each data file is composed of computer printouts of tables with mode data from thin section point counts, comments on additional data, and location data. Tremendous care was taken in transferring the data from the cards to computer, in order to preserve the original information and interpretations provided by the analyzer. In addition to the data files above, a file is included that consists of Nevada Test Site petrographic data published in …

The total-system life-cycle cost (TSLCC) analysis for the Department of Energy`s (DOE) Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program is an ongoing activity that helps determine whether the revenue-producing mechanism established by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 - a fee levied on electricity generated and sold by commercial nuclear power plants - is sufficient to cover the cost of the program. This report provides cost estimates for the sixth annual evaluation of the adequacy of the fee. The costs contained in this report represent a preliminary analysis of the cost impacts associated with the Secretary of Energy`s Report to Congress on Reassessment of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program issued in November 1989. The major elements of the restructured program announced in this report which pertain to the program`s life-cycle costs are: a prioritization of the scientific investigations program at the Yucca Mountain candidate site to focus on identification of potentially adverse conditions, a delay in the start of repository operations until 2010, the start of limited waste acceptance at the monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility in 1998, and the start of waste acceptance at the full-capability MRS facility in 2,000. Based on the restructured program, the total-system cost for …

Consumer and producer services, the latter in particular, are expected to become an important means of diversification and employment growth to the economy of Nevada. It has been suggested that the siting of the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, will lead to a significant reduction in the amenity value of the state and, consequently, the ability of the state to attract these nonmanufacturing industries. This report reviews the literature dealing with factors important to the location of services, with an emphasis on producer services, to determine whether amenities, which have been shown to be an important locational consideration for some manufacturing firms, similarly affect the location of services. The report finds little substantive evidence to link amenities with the location of service firms, although the process by which these firms` locations are chosen is not well understood. Research in this area is comparatively recent, and although a number of theories of service location have been developed, the majority of research is exploratory in scope.

Performance assessment of high-level nuclear waste containment feasibility requires representative values of parameters as input, including parameter moments, distributional characteristics, and covariance structures between parameters. To meet this need, characterization methods and data sets for interstitial, hydraulic, pneumatic and thermal parameters for a slightly welded fractured tuff at the Apache Leap Tuff Site situated in central Arizona are reported in this document. The data sets include the influence of matric suction on measured parameters. Spatial variability is investigated by sampling along nine boreholes at regular distances. Laboratory parameter estimates for 105 core segments are provided, as well as field estimates centered on the intervals where the core segments were collected. Measurement uncertainty is estimated by repetitively testing control samples. 31 refs., 10 figs., 21 tabs.

The OCRWM Bulletin is published by the Department of Energy, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management to provide current information about the national program for managing spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. This document is a compilation of issues from the 1989 calendar year. A table of contents and one index have been provided to assist in finding information contained in this year`s Bulletins. The pages have been numbered consecutively at the bottom for easy reference. 7 figs.

This document reports on the work done by the Nuclear Technology Programs of the Chemical Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, in the period October 1988--March 1989. These programs involve R&D in three areas: applied physical chemistry, separation science and technology, and nuclear waste management. The work in applied physical chemistry includes investigations into the processes that control the release and transport of fission products under accident-like conditions, the thermophysical properties of metal fuel and blanket materials of the Integral Fast Reactor, and the properties of selected materials in environments simulating those of fusion energy systems. In the area of separation science and technology, the bulk of the effort is concerned with developing and implementing processes for the removal and concentration of actinides from waste streams contaminated by transuranic elements. Another effort is concerned with examining the feasibility of substituting low-enriched for high-enriched uranium in the production of fission product {sup 99}Mo. In the area of waste management, investigations are underway on the performance of materials in projected nuclear repository conditions to provide input to the licensing of the nation`s high-level waste repositories. 127 refs., 76 figs., 103 tabs.

Specimens of three copper-base materials were corrosion tested with gamma radiation exposure dose rates in the range of 1.9 {times} 10{sup 3} R/h to 4.9 {times} 10{sup 5} R/h. Materials used were pure copper, 7% aluminum bronze and 30% copper-nickel. Exposures were performed in moist air at 95{degree}C and 150{degree}C and liquid Well J-13 water at 95{degree}C, for periods of up to 16 months. Specimens were monitored for uniform weight loss, stress-induced corrosion and crevice corrosion. Specimen surfaces were examined visually at 10X magnification as well as by Auger Electron Spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and metallography. Corrosion was not severe in any of the cases. In general, the pure copper was corroded most uniformly while the copper-nickel was the least reproducibly corroded. 11 refs, 40 figs., 15 tabs.

A workshop on applications and enhancements of the TOUGH/MULKOM family of multiphase fluid and heat flow simulation programs was held at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory on September 13--14, 1990. The workshop was attended by 62 scientists from seven countries with interests in geothermal reservoir engineering, nuclear waste isolation, unsaturated zone hydrology, environmental problems, and laboratory and field experimentation. The meeting featured 21 technical presentations, extended abstracts of which are reproduced in the present volume in unedited form. Simulator applications included processes on a broad range of space scales, from centimeters to kilometers, with transient times from seconds to geologic time scales. A number of code enhancements were reported that increased execution speeds for large 3-D problems by factors of order 20, reduced memory requirements, and improved user-friendliness. The workshop closed with an open discussion session that focussed on future needs and means for interaction in the TOUGH user community. Input from participants was gathered by means of a questionnaire that is reproduced in the appendix. 171 refs., 91 figs., 16 tabs.

This report describes the major parameters for management of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes in selected foreign countries as of December 1989 and compares them with those in the United States. The foreign countries included in this study are Belgium, Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. All the countries are planning for disposal of spent fuel and/or high-level wastes in deep geologic repositories. Most countries (except Canada and Sweden) plan to reprocess their spent fuel and vitrify the resultant high-level liquid wastes; in comparison, the US plans direct disposal of spent fuel. The US is planning to use a container for spent fuel as the primary engineered barrier. The US has the most developed repository concept and has one of the earliest scheduled repository startup dates. The repository environment presently being considered in the US is unique, being located in tuff above the water table. The US also has the most prescriptive regulations and performance requirements for the repository system and its components. 135 refs., 8 tabs.

The Waste Management Project Office of the Department of Energy conducted a special audit of the activities of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigation Project at Livermore. It was noted that there never has been a comprehensive, well-documented examination of the basis for the use of J-13 water in the nuclear waste storage investigations. In each of the sections of This Report, an issue relating to the use of J-13 water has been addressed. 58 refs., 19 figs., 8 tabs.

Laboratory techniques are developed that allow concurrent measurement of unsaturated matrix hydraulic conductivity and fracture transmissivity of fractured rock blocks. Two Apache Leap tuff blocks with natural fractures were removed from near Superior, Arizona, shaped into rectangular prisms, and instrumented in the laboratory. Porous ceramic plates provided solution to block tops at regulated pressures. Infiltration tests were performed on both test blocks. Steady flow testing of the saturated first block provided estimates of matrix hydraulic conductivity and fracture transmissivity. Fifteen centimeters of suction applied to the second block top showed that fracture flow was minimal and matrix hydraulic conductivity was an order of magnitude less than the first block saturated matrix conductivity. Coated-wire ion-selective electrodes monitored aqueous chlorided breakthrough concentrations. Minute samples of tracer solution were collected with filter paper. The techniques worked well for studying transport behavior at near-saturated flow conditions and also appear to be promising for unsaturated conditions. Breakthrough curves in the fracture and matrix, and a concentration map of chloride concentrations within the fracture, suggest preferential flows paths in the fracture and substantial diffusion into the matrix. Average travel velocity, dispersion coefficient and longitudinal dispersivity in the fracture are obtained. 67 refs., 54 figs., 23 tabs.

The disposal of the Nation`s spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste has been studied for many years. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and the subsequent Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (NWPAA) of 1987 provide the legislative framework under which the Department of Energy (DOE) must operate when evaluating potential sites for the geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste. Additionally, the DOE must comply with regulations published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 40 CFR 191, ``Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes`` and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 10 CFR 60. ``Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in Geologic Repositories.`` The DOE also operates under its own regulation, 10 CFR 960. ``General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for Nuclear Waste Repositories.`` The DOE has devoted considerable resources to this pro gram, which is managed by the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM). Disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste in a geologic repository has never before been done anywhere in the world. Since this is a first-of-a-kind facility, extreme care must be taken to ensure that all environmental and public health …