Numerical Modeling of Groundwater Flow and Solute Transport for a Nuclear-Waste Repository in Basalt

摘要

Near-field-modeling studies suggest that, over a 10,000-year period, a radionuclide plume leached from a high-level nuclear waste repository in the Umtanum flow under baseline conditions would not migrate more than about 200 meters vertically and a few kilometers horizontally from the repository. Far-field-modeling studies suggest that, under pre-waste-emplacement conditions, groundwater in the Grande Ronde Formation moves subhorizontally and to the southeast from the proposed repository location. Groundwater-travel times from the repository to the edge of the Pasco Basin are estimated to be on the order of 100,000 years. (ERA citation 07:042598)