Geological and Petrological Considerations Relevant to the Disposal of Radioactive Wastes by Hydraulic Fracturing: An Example at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory In Situ Composites Prepared by Solidification and Mechanical Techniques

ABSTRACTAt Oak Ridge National Laboratory the Pumpkin Valley Shale is used as a host formation for hydraulic fracturing waste disposal. Determination of the relationships between the distribution of different lithologies and porosity-permeability trends within this host formation allows these properties, important to hydraulic fracturing operations, to be related to measurable and mappable geological and petrological parameters. It also permits extrapolation of such patterns to little-studied portions of the Pumpkin Valley Shale. Such knowledge better allows for the satisfactory operation and assessment of the hydraulic fracturing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.