scholarly journals In situ geomechanics: Climax granite, Nevada Test Site

10.2172/59219 ◽  
1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.E. Heuze ◽  
W.C. Patrick ◽  
R.V. De la Cruz ◽  
C.F. Voss
Keyword(s):  
Test Site ◽  
Nevada Test Site

Site Characterization for Field Radionuclide Migration Studies in Climax Granite

1981 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Isherwood ◽  
Ellen Raber ◽  
Randolph Stone
Keyword(s):  
Flow Model ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Hydraulic Testing ◽  
Nevada Test Site ◽  
Radionuclide Migration ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Initial Field ◽  
In Situ Conditions ◽  
Fracture Apertures

ABSTRACTRadionuclide migration experiments in fractured granite at the Climax Stock, Nevada Test Site, are needed to compare field and laboratory measured retardation factors to determine whether laboratory studies accurately reflect in situ conditions. Initial field activities have concentrated on hydrological investigations to determine whether the fractures in Climax granite are suitable for migration experiments. A critical question was whether we could isolate a single vertical fracture between two boreholes and establish flow along that fracture from an upper to a lower borehole. Of the ten fractures tested, one fracture would not take water at pressures up to 200 psig for 24 hours. Several fractures were so permeable they accepted water at a rate which exceeded the pumping capacity of the equipment. Other fractures failed to show a connection between the two boreholes. In two fractures, we were able to establish a circulating system with up to 95 percent of the injected water being recovered. Constant pressure injection tests were conducted. Intrinsic permeabilities of 33 and 75 (μm)2 were estimated using a radial nonsteady flow model. These values correspond to effective fracture apertures of 20 and 30 μm respectively. Concurrent with the hydraulic testing activities is a study of the Climax ground-water chemistry. Our analyses show the natural water to be very different in composition from the granite equilibrated water used in laboratory sorption studies. This paper includes the results of the hydrogeological and geochemical investigations, and describes the overall experimental design plans for the radionuclide migration experiments.

Secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements of volcanic tuffs containing radionuclides from underground nuclear tests

2000 ◽  
Vol 88 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
T.P. Rose ◽  
D.K. Smith ◽  
D.L. Phinney
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Nevada Test Site ◽  
Anthropogenic Radionuclides ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Ion Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Nuclear Tests ◽  
Secondary Ion

The in situ distribution of anthropogenic radionuclides in volcanic tuffs was measured using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Samples were obtained from boreholes drilled in close proximity to expended underground nuclear test cavities at the Nevada Test Site, USA. SIMS measurements revealed the presence of

A Comparison of in Situ Gamma Soil Analysis and Soil Sampling Data for Mapping 241Am and 239Pu Soil Concentrations at the Nevada Test Site

1977 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 587-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Kirby ◽  
Lynn R. Anspaugh ◽  
Paul L. Phelps ◽  
George W. Huckabay ◽  
Frank Markwell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Analysis ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Soil Sampling ◽  
Nevada Test Site

scholarly journals Field-Scale Migration of 99Tc and 129I at the Nevada Test Site

2004 ◽  
Vol 824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinhong Hu ◽  
David K. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Redox Potential ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Yucca Mountain ◽  
Nevada Test Site ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Geological Repository ◽  
The Subject

AbstractThe groundwater at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) contains many long-lived radionuclides, including 99Tc (technetium) and 129I (iodine), as a result of 828 underground nuclear weapons tests conducted between 1951 and 1992. We synthesized a body of data collected on the distribution of 99Tc and 129I in groundwater to assess their migration at NTS, at field scales over distances of hundreds of meters and for durations up to forty years and under hydrogeologic conditions very similar to the proposed geological repository at Yucca Mountain. The results of our study show that Tc does not necessarily exist as a mobile and conservative species TcO4−, as has been commonly assumed. This conclusion is corroborated by recent in situ redox potential measurements, which show that groundwaters at multiple locations of the NTS are not oxidizing, and mobility of reduced Tc species (TcO2·nH2O) is greatly decreased. Speciation of iodine and its associated reactivity is also complex in the groundwater at the NTS, and its effect on the mobility of iodine should be the subject of future studies.

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