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The Yucca Mountain Project
Numerical Modeling
Berkeley Lab is responsible for hydrological (seepage and transport) and thermal-hydrological-chemical coupled-process testing and modeling at Yucca Mountain’s Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF). The ESF consists of an 8 km long, 8 m diameter underground tunnel with niches and alcoves for testing; and a smaller 2.7 km long, 5 m diameter Enhanced Characterization Repository Block (ECRB) cross drift.
The testing and modeling program addresses some of the most compelling issues for the potential repository, including:
- Infiltration and migration of water from the land surface to the repository horizon
- Flow distribution between fractures and rock matrix
- Mineralogical and geochemical evidence of past and current water distribution
- Water seepage into waste-emplacement drifts
- Retardation of radionuclide migration from the repository horizon
- Heat release and its effect on water distribution and transport
Studies of the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain are highlighted in the March 2000 Process Model Report "Unsaturated Zone Flow and Transport Model Process Model Report," by Bodvarsson et al. (prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System (OCRWM) Management & Operating Contractor (M&O), TRW Environmental Safety Systems, Inc.). Current revisions of this document are available from the current M&O, Bechtel SAIC Company (BSC).
The Unsaturated Zone (UZ) Process Model Report (PMR) describes the modeling, analysis and current understanding of fluid flow and chemical (solute and colloidal) transport through the UZ at Yucca Mountain… The primary purpose of the UZ PMR is to develop models for the Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) that evaluate the post-closure performance of the UZ…
In addition to the treatment of the various technical issues on UZ flow and transport, the UZ PMR summarizes concerns and comments by various overseeing bodies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB), various peer review groups convened by the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (YMP), and from various internal YMP workshops…
This program also supports the engineered barrier system to protect waste packages and the design of drift ventilation and spacing to control temperature in the surrounding rock after waste emplacement.
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