Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-2n9c9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T23:26:32.638Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Waste Package Materials Field Test in S.E. New Mexico Salt*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Martin A. Molecke and
Teresa M. Torres
Martin A. Molecke
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Division 6332, Albuquerque, NM 87185
Teresa M. Torres
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Division 6332, Albuquerque, NM 87185
Get access

Abstract

A six-part, waste package materials field test was conducted in a halite horizon of a potash mine in southeastern New Mexico. The primary purposes of this test were to evaluate the thermophysical and geochemical performance of candidate HLW-package backfill materials emplaced in rock salt and the corrosion behavior of candidate waste canister or overpack alloys. This field test series also served as a precursor to forthcoming Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in situ waste package performance experiments on simulated defense high-level waste packages, serving to develop applicable testing, instrumentation, and sampling techniques. The backfill materials tested (individually, in one- to five-month tests) were: low-density bentonite clay; low-density bentonite (70 wt.%)-silica sand (30 wt.%) mixtures, both dry and brine-injected; high-density bentonite-sand annular compacts; trapped air; and finely-crushed WIPP salt. The in situ measured thermal conductivities (at a maximum canister-heater surface temperature of 150° or 250°C) for the backfills ranged from 0.25 W/mK for pure bentonite to about 1.25 W/mK for the high-density bentonite-sand. No significant backfill material degradation products were detected in post-test analyses. No appreciable corrosion of the titanium-, nickel-, or iron-based alloys embedded in the hot backfill was found; potentially significant pitting corrosion of 2 1/4 Cr-1 Mo steel and copper was detected.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

*

This work performed at Sandia National Laboratories, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract Number DE-AC04-76DP00789.

References

REFERENCES

1. Nowak, E. J., The Backfill as an Engineered Barrier for Nuclear Waste Management, SAND79-0990C, November 1979, in Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management, Vol. 2, Northrup, C. J. ed. (Plenum Press, NY 1980).Google Scholar
2. Nowak, E. J., Radionuclide Sorption and Migration Studies of Getters for Backfill Barriers, SAND79–1110, Sandia National Laboratories (1980).Google Scholar
3. Molecke, M. A. and Nowak, E. J., Status of Sandia Backfill-Getter Development Studies, SAND80–2190C, in Proceedings of the National Waste Terminal Storage Program Information Meeting, ONWI-212 (1980).Google Scholar
4. Peterson, E. and Kelkar, S., Laboratory Tests to Determine Hydraulic and Thermal Properties of Bentonite-Based Backfill Materials, SAND82–7221, Sandia National Laboratories (1983).Google Scholar
5. Matalucci, R. V., Christensen, C. L., Hunter, T. O., Molecke, M. A., and Munson, D. E., Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Research and Development Program: In Situ Testing Plan, SAND81–2628, Sandia National Laboratories (1982).Google Scholar
6. Krumhansl, J. L., Observations Regarding the Stability of Bentonite Backfill in a High-Level Waste Repository in Rock Salt, SAND83-1293J, Sandia National Laboratories (DRAFT 1983).Google Scholar
7. Moss, M. and Molecke, M. A., Thermal Conductivity of Bentonite/Quartz High-Level Waste Package Backfills, SAND82-1274C, in Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management VI, Vol. 15, Brookins, D. ed. (North-Holland 1983).Google Scholar
8. Molecke, M. A., Ruppen, J. A., and Diegle, R. B., Materials for High-Level Waste Canister/Overpacks in Salt Formations, SAND82-0429J, in Nuclear Technology (December 1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Gartling, D. K., COYOTE--A Finite-Element Computer Program for Nonlinear Heat Conduction Problems, SAND77-1332, Sandia National Laboratories (1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Eaton, R. R. and Korbin, C. M., Thermal Calculations, Effect of Backfill Barrier Thickness on Canister Surface Temperatures (WIPP), unpublished memo, (March 10, 1981).Google Scholar
11. Braithwaite, J. W. and Molecke, M. A., Nuclear Waste Canister Corrosion Studies Pertinent to Geologic Isolation, Nuclear and Chemical Waste Management, 1, p 37–50 (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar