The site of a proposed repository for high-level radioactive waste from the nation's nuclear power plants is not at risk of ground water infiltration, concludes this important book. Yucca Mountain, located about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, has been proposed as the site for permanent underground disposal of high-level radioactive waste from the nation's civilian nuclear power plants.
To resolve concerns raised by a Department of Energy (DOE) staff scientist concerning the potential for ground water to rise 1,000 feet to the level proposed for the repository, DOE requested this study to evaluate independently the past history and future potential of large upward excursions of the ground water beneath Yucca Mountain.
- Ground Water at Yucca Mountain How High Can It Rise?
- Copyright
- Contents
- Executive Summary
- INTRODUCTION
- HAS IT HAPPENED?
- Soils
- Springs
- Textural/Morphologic Evidence
- Breccias
- Isotopes
- CONCLUSION
- CAN IT HAPPEN?
- Increased Rainfall
- Volcanic Intrusion
- Earthquakes
- RECOMMENDATIONS
- Steep Hydraulic Gradient
- Paleozoic Carbonate Aquifer
- Scientific Integration/Coordination
- 1—Introduction
- 2—Water Levels in the Vicinity of the Proposed Repository in the Last 100,000 Years
- GEOLOGIC SETTING OF YUCCA MOUNTAIN AND ENVIRONS
- Paleozoic
- Mesozoic
- Cenozoic
- Extension
- Volcanic Activity
- Active Tectonics
- EPISODIC GROUND-WATER DISCHARGE THESIS
- SOIL DEVELOPMENT AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE REGION
- HYDROLOGIC EVIDENCE FROM SPRINGS
- Devils Hole
- Wahmonie Spring
- The Age of the Wahmonie Site
- Cane Spring
- MORPHOLOGIC/TEXTURAL EVIDENCE EXHIBITED BY CHEMICAL PRECIPITATES
- EVIDENCE EXHIBITED BY BRECCIAS
- GEOCHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
- ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE
- Stable Isotopes: 13C and 18O
- Tracer Isotopes: Sr, U, and Th
- CONCLUSIONS
- RECOMMENDATIONS
- Additional Characterization of Carbonate Veins in Core
- Fluid Inclusion Studies
- Isotopic Composition of Windblown Dust
- Additional Studies at Site 199
- REFERENCES
- 3—Might Increased Rainfall Cause Flooding of the Proposed Repository?
- INTRODUCTION
- HYDROGEOLOGICAL SETTING
- A MODEL OF GROUND-WATER FLOW AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN
- EVIDENCE FOR PAST VARIABILITY IN RAINFALL
- Chronological Framework
- Geographic and Paleohydrologic Framework
- The Paleoecological Record
- PALEOCLIMATIC RECONSTRUCTIONS
- Full-Glacial Climates
- The Terminal Wisconsin-Early Holocene
- Climates of the Last 8,000 Years
- MODEL CALCULATIONS OF POTENTIAL RISE IN THE GROUND-WATER TABLE DUE TO INCREASED PRECIPITATION
- CONCLUSIONS
- RECOMMENDATIONS
- REFERENCES
- 4—Can an Igneous Intrusion Raise the Water Table to the Proposed Repository Level?
- SUMMARY OF TERTIARY VOLCANIC HISTORY OF THE REGION
- STYLE AND SIZE OF A LIKELY INTRUSION IN THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN REGION
- MODELS OF WATER TABLE RISE ACCOMPANYING DIKE INTRUSION
- POSSIBLE DEEP (LOWER CRUSTAL) MAGMA CHAMBERS IN THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN REGION
- PROBABILISTIC ASSESSMENT OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF A BASALTIC DIKE INTRUSION
- CONCLUSIONS
- RECOMMENDATIONS
- REFERENCES
- 5—Could a Nearby Earthquake Cause Flooding of the Proposed Repository?
- INTRODUCTION
- Contemporary Crustal Motions
- Recommendation
- HYDROLOGIC RESPONSES TO EARTHQUAKES
- HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
- Loma Prieta, California
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Borah Peak, Idaho
- RECOMMENDATION
- EARTHQUAKE MODELS
- Introduction
- Dislocation Models
- Regional Stress Change Models
- Sources of Information on In Situ Physical Properties
- CONCLUSIONS BASED ON RESULTS OF MODELING TO DATE
- A Possible Alternate Modeling Approach: Discontinuum Analysis of Ground-Water Motion
- RECOMMENDATION
- EARTHQUAKE PROBABILITY
- CONCLUSIONS
- RECOMMENDATIONS
- REFERENCES
- 6—Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations
- HAS IT HAPPENED?
- Field Evidence
- Soils
- Modern and Paleo-Springs
- Textural/Morphologic Evidence
- Breccias
- Isotopes
- Paleobiological Evidence
- Recommendations
- CAN IT HAPPEN?
- Water Table Response to an Increase in Rainfall
- Recommendation
- Water Table Response to a Volcanic Intrusion
- Recommendations
- Water Table Response to Earthquakes
- Evidence from Historic Earthquakes
- Earthquake Models
- Recommendation
- ADDITIONAL ISSUES OF CONCERN
- Steep Hydrologic Gradient
- Essential Data for Modeling the Ground-Water Flow System
- Recommendation
- Scientific Integration/Coordination
- Recommendation
- Flexibility in the Scientific Program
- Appendixes
- Appendix A A Review of the Isotope Geochemistry of the Yucca Mountain, Nevada, Proposed Nuclear Waste Repository Site.
- Summary
- Introduction
- Ancient Ground Waters vs. Modern Ground Waters
- C-O-H Isotopes
- U and TH Isotopes
- SR Isotopes
- New Data on Calcite from Drill Holes
- Conclusions
- Recommendations
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Useful References Not Cited in the Text
- Appendix B Yucca Mountain: Ground-Water Flow
- Introduction
- Hydrologic Data Set
- Permeability Structure
- Aquifer Pressures (Hydraulic Potential)
- Discharge and Recharge Areas
- Modeling Studies
- Recommendations
- References
- Appendix C The Effects of Pluvial Climates In The Vicinity of Yucca Mountain: A Summary
- Introduction
- Chronological Framework
- Geographic and Paleohydrologic Framework
- The Paleoecological Record
- Selected Fossil Records
- Evidence of Phreatic Environments
- Paleoclimatic Reconstructions
- Full-Glacial Climates
- The Terminal Wisconsin-Early Holocene
- Climates of the Last 8000 Years
- Conclusions and Information Needs
- References
- Appendix C Supplement
- Indicator Plant Species in Paleoclimate Studies
- I. Warm desert plant species:
- II. Cold desert or steppe plant species:
- III. Woodland plant species:
- IV. Forest plant species:
- V. Wet-ground plant species:
- Appendix D Response of the Ground-Water System at Yucca Mountain to an Earthquake
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Earth Tides and Atmospheric Loads
- Elastic and Hydrologic Parameters
- Fault Dislocation
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgment
- References
- Appendix E Probabilities of Earthquakes Near Yucca Mountain, Nevada
- Purpose
- Faults and Parameters
- Analysis
- Results
- Summary
- References
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