Hazard Categories

Nuclear Waste Disposal in the Unsaturated Zone

The motivation for Hydrological Department's (HD's) extensive effort in unsaturated zone hydrology and coupled processes is stimulated by the need to understand flow and transport in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the site of the proposed nuclear waste repository. HD Research scientists in this field include prominent infiltration and seepage, coupled nonisothermal and geomechanical effects, and transport of radionuclides. Since research in the underground, HD, scientists have found evidence of significant water vapor transport in closed tunnels in the mountain, with consequences for the natural fracture of a pair of transport as ...