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GSA Annual Meeting, November 5-8, 2001

Paper No. 0
Presentation Time: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM

WIPP AND YUCCA MOUNTAIN: USDOE'S MULTI-FACETED APPROACH TO THE SAFE GEOLOGIC DISPOSAL OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES


PATTERSON, Russell L., U.S. Department of Energy, Carlsbad Field Office, P. O. Box 3090, Carlsbad, NM 88221, LEVICH, Robert A., U.S. Department of Energy, Yucca Mountain Site Chacterization Office, 1551 Hillshire Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89134 and LINDEN, Ronald M., Golder Associates, Inc, 1551 Hillshire Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89134, ronald_linden@ymp.gov

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a multi-faceted approach to the geologic disposal of a several types of long-lived nuclear wastes. Two sites are currently being developed or studied as current or potential deep geologic repositories for radioactive wastes.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), located in southeastern New Mexico, is currently being used by the DOE for the disposal of defense-related transuranic waste (TRU). Most of the TRU waste to be disposed of at WIPP is contaminated sludge and refuse including rags, tools, protective clothing, and equipment. Many of these items originate from activities associated with the production of nuclear weapons, including plutonium fabrication and reprocessing, research and development, decontamination and decommissioning, and environmental restoration programs.

Geologically the WIPP repository is located in a bedded salt formation of Permian age some 655 meters below the land surface. The allowed 176,000 cubic meters of waste will be mostly packaged in 55-gallon (208 liter) drums and standard waste boxes (capacity of about 1.88 cubic meters), with a MgO backfill.

The Yucca Mountain Site is located in southern Nevada approximately 160 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas. DOE is studying the suitability of Yucca Mountain as the nation’s first potential repository for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste. Spent nuclear fuel originates mainly from commercial civilian reactors. The high-level radioactive wastes are vitrified products produced by US defense programs. Currently, according to legislation, the potential repository at Yucca Mountain is limited to 70,000 metric tons of waste.

Yucca Mountain consists of an uplifted ridge of alternating layers of welded and non-welded volcanic silicic tuffs of Miocene age. At Yucca Mountain, DOE plans to dispose of the waste in bimetallic stainless steel and corrosion-resistant nickel-based alloy canisters. The waste will be emplaced in the unsaturated zone, within layers of welded tuff, below the ridge crest of Yucca Mountain an average of 300 meters, and ca. 300 meters above the water table. The earliest date a potential repository at Yucca Mountain could be constructed and ready to receive waste is 2010.

This poster will compare and contrast the two U.S. deep geologic disposal programs.

Session No. 27--Booth# 11

Engineering Geology (Posters)
Monday, 5 November 2001: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 33, No. 6, October 2001, p.392
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