The advantages of a salt/bentonite backfill for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant disposal rooms
TLDR
In this article, the authors concluded that a 70/30 wt % salt/bentonite mixture is preferable to pure crushed salt as backfill for disposal rooms in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.Abstract:
This paper concludes that a 70/30 wt % salt/bentonite mixture is preferable to pure crushed salt as backfill for disposal rooms in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, near Carlsbad, NM, is designed to be the first mined geologic repository for the safe disposal of transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste generated by DOE defense programs since 1970. The repository is located about 655 m below the land surface in an extensive bedded salt formation. This report examines the performance of two backfill materials with regard to various selection criteria, such as the need for low permeability after closure, chemical stability, strength, ease of emplacement, and sorption potential for brine and radionuclides. Both salt and salt/bentonite are expected to consolidate to a state of permeability {le} 10{sup {minus}18} m{sup 2} that is adequate for satisfying regulations for nuclear repositories. The results of finite-element calculations that were used to arrive at this conclusion will be described. The real advantage of the salt/bentonite. backfill depends, therefore, on bentonite`s potential for sorbing brine and radionuclides. Estimates of the impact of these properties on backfill performance are presented.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Permeability of WIPP Salt During Damage Evolution and Healing
TL;DR: In this article, an analytical formulation of the permeability of damaged rock salt is presented for both initially intact and porous conditions, which shows that permeability is related to the connected (i.e., gas accessible) volumetric strain and porosity according to two different power-laws, which may be summed to give the overall behavior of a porous salt with damage.
ReportDOI
Bentonite as a waste isolation pilot plant shaft sealing material
J. Daemen,Chongwei Ran +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the acceptability of bentonite as a sealing material for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and identify the physical and chemical properties, stability and seal construction technologies of the bentonite seals in shafts, especially in a saline brine environment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Development of the Conceptual Models for Chemical Conditions and Hydrology Used in the 1996 Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
TL;DR: Described within the CCA are descriptions of the scientific research conducted to characterize the properties of the WIPP site and the probabilistic performance assessment (PA) conducted to predict the containment properties ofThe WIPP disposal system.
ReportDOI
Coupled multiphase flow and closure analysis of repository response to waste-generated gas at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
TL;DR: In this article, a multiphase fluid flow code, TOUGH2/EOS8, was adapted to model the processes of gas generation, disposal room creep closure, and multi-phase fluid flow, as well as the coupling between the three processes.
Dissertation
Laboratory assessment of compressive strength and permeabilty of crushed salt during consolidation
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a table of contents and a list of FIGURES and symbols, including symbols and abbreviations, for each chapter of the story.
References
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ReportDOI
Systems analysis, long-term radionuclide transport, and dose assessments, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), southeastern New Mexico; March 1989
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present new calculations of radionuclide migration within and from the WIPP repository for steady-state undisturbed conditions and for two cases that consider human intrusion into the repository.
SANCHO: a finite element computer program for the quasistatic, large deformation, inelastic response of two-dimensional solids
TL;DR: SANCHO as discussed by the authors is a finite element computer program designed to compute the quasistatic, large deformation, inelastic response of planar or axisymmetric solids.
Hydrostatic creep consolidation of crushed salt with added water
D.J. Holcomb,M. Shields +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that adding small amounts of water to the as-mined salt results in a consolidation rate such that times required for the salt to form an effective barrier to fluid flow are of the order of 1 year at stresses in the 1 MPa range.
ReportDOI
Preliminary seal design evaluation for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a preliminary evaluation of design concepts for the eventual sealing of the shafts, drifts, and boreholes at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Facility.