Application of Discrete Feature Analysis to Repository Characterization
Rock mass heterogeneity plays an important role in the hydrologic and mechanical behavior of radioactive waste repositories. This heterogeneity is, in turn, strongly influenced by the...
Fractal Characteristics of Fracture Roughness and Aperture Data
In this study mathematical expressions are developed for the characteristics of apertures between rough surfaces. It shown that the correlation between the opposite surfaces influences...
Design and Operating Criteria of the French Deep Repository for High Level Radioactive Waste
The design and operating criteria of the French geologic repository for high level radioactive waste (HLW) were selected for their contribution to operational and long-term safety, as...
Effect of Material Heterogeneities on Flow Through Porous Media
Modeling studies were conducted to determine the effects of material heterogeneities on the flow of water through rock. Multiple numerical calculations were made using random variations...
Lubrication Theory Analysis of the Permeability of Rough-Walled Fractures
Lubrication theory is used to study the permeability of rough-walled rock fractures. Two idealized models of a fracture, in which the roughness follows a sinusoidal or a sawtooth variation,...
A Probe Method for Measuring In Situ Rock Thermophysical Properties
The application of a thermal probe method for in situ thermophysical property measurement is analyzed. The REKA method (Rapid Evaluation of k and alpha) involves a single-borehole probe...
Correlation of Hydraulic Conductivity and Sonic Velocity in Water-Saturated Tuff
A laboratory study was conducted to investigate the correlation of hydraulic and sonic properties of water-saturated tuff. The hydraulic test used a new rock block testing machine, which...
Major Results of Gravity and Magnetic Studies at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
About 4,000 gravity stations have been obtained at Yucca Mountain and vicinity since the beginning of radioactive-waste studies there in 1978. These data have been integrated with data...
Geophysical Borehole Logging in the Unsaturated Zone, Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Borehole geophysical logging for site characterization in the volcanic rocks at the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, requires data collection under rather unusual...
Nondestructive Testing Using Borehole and Surface Seismic Techniques to Evaluate Rock Mass Damage Zones
A suite of seismic tests was performed at the U12g tunnel at the Nevada Test Site. The methods include borehole (crosshole and downhole) and surface (Rayleigh wave and refraction) tests....
Field Investigations for Seismic Effects on Mechanical and Geohydrologic Response of Underground Structures in Jointed Rock
An exploratory Seismic Rock Mechanics research program has been initiated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA) to study...
Regulatory Requirements and Long-Term Repository Host Rock Performance
The regulatory requirements governing the disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in mined geologic repositories acknowledge the long-lived nature of the wastes and require the consideration...
Preliminary Calculations of Release Rates from Spent Fuel in a Tuff Repository
Time-dependent release rates of Tc-99, I-129, Cs-135, and Np-237 have been calculated for wet-drip and moist-continuous release modes from the engineered barrier system of a potential...
Risk Assessments for the Design of Subsurface Openings
A probabilistic approach was introduced to assess the risk of structural instability due to rock joint systems in rock mass, where subsurface openings are excavated, such openings as shafts,...
The Integrated Performance Assessment in SKI Project-90
The SKI Project-90 is a performance assessment of a hypothetical repository system with KBS-3 features in crystalline rock. A large part of the effort has been to identify and characterize...
CALIBRE and CRYSTAL: Near-field and Geosphere Models for Project-90
A new near-field model (CALIBRE) and a fractured geosphere model (CRYSTAL) have been developed in support of the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate's Project-90 safety assessment...
Two Double Porosity Models for Groundwater Radioactive Contamination
This paper describes two models for groundwater radioactive contamination in a naturally fractured rock. The first one for a saturated rock and the other one for an unsaturated rock. Numerical...
Characterization Uncertainty and its Effects on Models and Performance
Geostatistical simulation is being used to develop multiple geologic models of rock properties at the proposed Yucca Mountain repository site. Because each replicate model contains the...
Emplacement Drift Temperature Reduction by Cooling Enhancement and Ventilation
The application of cooling enhancement in a short vertical container emplacement layout is analyzed. Two 25 m-long heat pipes upward oriented at 45 degrees are installed at each emplacement...
The Constructive Use of Heat in an Unsaturated Tuff Repository
By designing the engineered barrier system in an unsaturated tuff repository to constructively use heat, the waste containers can be kept dry for hundreds of years. Without water, the...
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