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Drilling and testing in the deep borehole field test

ANS IHLRWM 2017 - 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference: Creating a Safe and Secure Energy Future for Generations to Come - Driving Toward Long-Term Storage and Disposal

Kuhlman, Kristopher L.; Sassani, David C.; Freeze, Geoffrey A.; Hardin, Ernest H.; Brady, Patrick V.

The Deep Borehole Field Test (DBFT) is a planned multi-year project led by the US Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy to drill two boreholes to 5 km total depth into crystalline basement in the continental US. The purpose of the first characterization borehole is to demonstrate the ability to characterize in situ formation fluids through sampling and perform downhole hydraulic testing to demonstrate groundwater from 3 to 5 km depth is old and isolated from the atmosphere. The purpose of the second larger-diameter borehole is to demonstrate safe surface and downhole handling procedures. This paper details many of the drilling, testing, and characterization activities planned in the first smaller-diameter characterization borehole.

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Deep Borehole Disposal Safety Analysis

Freeze, Geoffrey A.; Stein, Emily S.; Price, Laura L.; MacKinnon, R.J.; Tillman, Jackie B.

This report presents a preliminary safety analysis for the deep borehole disposal (DBD) concept, using a safety case framework. A safety case is an integrated collection of qualitative and quantitative arguments, evidence, and analyses that substantiate the safety, and the level of confidence in the safety, of a geologic repository. This safety case framework for DBD follows the outline of the elements of a safety case, and identifies the types of information that will be required to satisfy these elements. At this very preliminary phase of development, the DBD safety case focuses on the generic feasibility of the DBD concept. It is based on potential system designs, waste forms, engineering, and geologic conditions; however, no specific site or regulatory framework exists. It will progress to a site-specific safety case as the DBD concept advances into a site-specific phase, progressing through consent-based site selection and site investigation and characterization.

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Thermal-Hydrology Simulations of Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste in a Single Deep Borehole

Hadgu, Teklu H.; Stein, Emily S.; Hardin, Ernest H.; Freeze, Geoffrey A.; Hammond, Glenn E.

Simulations of thermal-hydrology were carried out for the emplacement of spent nuclear fuel canisters and cesium and strontium capsules using the PFLOTRAN simulator. For the cesium and strontium capsules the analysis looked at disposal options such as different disposal configurations and surface aging of waste to reduce thermal effects. The simulations studied temperature and fluid flux in the vicinity of the borehole. Simulation results include temperature and vertical flux profiles around the borehole at selected depths. Of particular importance are peak temperature increases, and fluxes at the top of the disposal zone. Simulations of cesium and strontium capsule disposal predict that surface aging and/or emplacement of the waste at the top of the disposal zone reduces thermal effects and vertical fluid fluxes. Smaller waste canisters emplaced over a longer disposal zone create the smallest thermal effect and vertical fluid fluxes no matter the age of the waste or depth of emplacement.

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Results 51–100 of 155
Results 51–100 of 155