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The Yucca Mountain Project
Ambient Testing
- Drift Seepage Test
- Fracture Flow, Fracture Matrix Interaction Test
- Moisture Monitoring
- Paintbrush Flow Test
- Shadow Zone Test
- The El Nino Effect: Alcoves 1 & 7
- Systematic Testing
- Alcove 8/Niche 3 Test
Approach
The unifying purpose of the Ambient Field Testing Program is to acquire a greater understanding of rock permeability-the paths moisture takes and the rate at which moisture travels through the different geological layers of Yucca Mountain. In addition, results of these tests will be used to refine our present conceptual and numerical models of Yucca Mountain, ensuring that models such as the UZ site-scale and drift-scale computer models are as accurate and sophisticated as they need to be in order to faithfully represent and predict moisture flow within the mountain. All of these efforts will be combined to assess the performance of Yucca Mountain as a potential repository site.
The construction of the ESF Main Drift and Cross Drift provides the opportunity to evaluate the process of seepage into drifts at various scales in the three major rock units at the repository level. The field testing program is designed to address the issue of potential seepage into the proposed waste emplacement drifts, and includes integrated tests to evaluate this process-from the smallest scale to the full repository scale. In order to accomplish the evaluation at the various scales, the tests are being conducted within specially designed testing alcoves and in a series of smaller niches that are located at scientifically important locations within the ESF.
The Ambient Field Testing Program was initiated in 1997 to obtain data sufficient to provide an increased understanding of percolation within the mountain and to ensure a credible calibration of the UZ models' critical input for the final Total Systems Performance Assessment (TSPA) that is required as part of the licensing process for the potential repository.
For more information, please contact:
Joseph Wang
Ambient Field Testing Group Leader
Ph: 510-486-6753
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