Technical Leadership Projects
Managing the Measurements: Data Management at Yucca Mountain
Our Test Coordination Office's Data Management Team provides the Yucca Mountain Project scientific community with prompt, high-quality data services in a demanding environment.
Our recent work includes providing data collection and data management services for a variety of field tests, including
• large-scale thermal underground connectivity testing,
• the Engineered Barrier series at DOE's Atlas complex in north Las Vegas,
• the Natural Convection Test Series, also in north Las Vegas,
• the United States Geological Survey (USGS) video camera network in the cross drift
• the Laser-Strain Gage Test, and
• more than 70 data loggers operated underground by USGS and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
One of the many fiber-optic-based local area network locations used to provide real-time interconnection of data collection systems underground in the Exploratory Studies Facility.
Keeping Waste in Place: Engineered Barrier Systems for Yucca Mountain
Yucca Mountain will serve as the nation's first long-term geologic repository for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Inside Yucca Mountain, what will keep the waste in place? An Engineered Barrier System (EBS).
Since 1998, we have coordinated pilot-scale tests to evaluate the EBS for Yucca Mountain. These tests will help us develop and verify process and computer models of the EBS. These tests have included air ventilation tests, natural convection tests, and breached drip-shield tests. Current activities are focusing on coordinating Rock-Bolt pull tests and a quarter-scale heat dispersion test.
Air ventilation test setup.
Setting the Stage: Underground Field Testing at Yucca Mountain
Field testing is a critical component of Yucca Mountain Project site research. It provides data that researchers use to validate site performance and monitor and predict activity at the site.
Our team coordinates all field-testing activities within the Exploratory Studies Facility. We work directly with construction, engineering, and scientific staff to
• solve problems,
• ensure compliance with Integrated Safety Management principles and functions, and
• keep underground test projects on schedule and within budget.
Testing over the past two years has emphasized geotechnical rock properties testing and the start of the cooling phase of the Drift-Scale Thermal Test. Underground testing will be continued to subport licensing, construction, and operation of the repository
A New Volcano at Yucca Mountain? Evaluating the Risk
Could a new volcano arise in the Yucca Mountain area? How would rising magma dikes affect the radioactive waste stored at Yucca Mountain? If a volcano erupts, what sort of damage will it do?
To answer these questions, our team of volcanologists is developing models and computational codes that address magma flow and eruption effects. We are also studying the Lathrop Wells volcano to understand how waste particles might scatter during an eruption.
Modeling Yucca Mountain Saturated-Zone Flow and Transport
Yucca Mountain will serve as the nation's first long-term geologic repository for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. It will use barrier systems to keep the stored waste safely in place. Monitoring the performance of these barrier systems will be critical to ensure public health and safety.
Because the Yucca Mountain system is very complex, existing systems to model and monitor site performance involve uncertainty. We work to reduce this uncertainty and increase confidence that the Site-Scale Saturated-Zone Flow and Transport Model provides accurate information about saturated-zone flow and its role as part of the barrier systems. Our work includes thermal modeling, hydrogeochemical analyses, and the use of new hydrogeological and boundary fluxes data.
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