Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T04:07:02.365Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Wipp Pre-Disposal Phase Experimental Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2012

M. L. Matthews
M. L. Matthews*
Affiliation:
Office of Regulatory Compliance, U.S. Department of Energy, Carlsbad Area Office, P.O. Box 3090, Carlsbad, NM 88221–3090, matthem@wipp.carlsbad.nm.us
Get access

Abstract

The WIPP is a transuranic waste disposal project of the U.S. Department ofEnergy and administered by the Carlsbad Area Office. The WIPP facility is amined repository located near Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was developed andconstructed 658 meters below the surface to demonstrate the safe, permanentisolation of transuranic radioactive wastes in a bedded salt formation.After the site selection phase and construction phase were completed, DOEembarked upon a pre-disposal experimental program phase. There are fourmajor WIPP experimental program areas: shaft seals and rock mechanics;disposal room interactions; fluid flow and transport; and direct releasesdue to human intrusion.

The Pre-Disposal Phase Experimental Program provided the necessaryinformation to support the WIPP performance assessment process. The resultsof the program have been instrumental in demonstrating that the WIPP meetsthe regulatory requirements.

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

References

REFERENCES

1. DOE (U.S. Dept. Of Energy), 1996: Title 40 CFR Part 191 Compliance Certification Application for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: DOE/CAO-2184; Carlsbad Area Office, Carlsbad, New Mexico.Google Scholar
2. EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), 1985: 40 CFR Part 191: Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel. High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Waste: Final Rule; Federal Register. Vol. 50, No. 182, pp. 38066–38089, September 19, 1985. Office of Radiation and Air, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
3. EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), 1996: 40 CFR Part 194: Criteria for the Certification and Re-Certification of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's Compliance with the 40 CFR Part 191 Disposal Regulations; Federal Register, 61, pp. 5223–5245, February 9, 1996. Office of Air and Radiation, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
4. DOE (U.S. Department of Energy), 1996: Title 40 CFR Part 191 Compliance Certification Application for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant; DOE/CAO-2184; Carlsbad Area Office, Carlsbad, New Mexico.Google Scholar
5. Repository Isolation Systems Department 6121; 1996: Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Shaft Sealing System. Compliance Submittal Design Report; SAND96–1326, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico.Google Scholar
6. DOE (U.S. Department of Energy), 1996: Title 40 CFR Part 191 Compliance Certification Application for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant; Appendix SOTERM; DOE/CAO-2184; Carlsbad Area Office, Carlsbad, New Mexico.Google Scholar
7. Meigs, L.C., Beauheim, R.L., and McCord, J.T., 1996: Design, Modeling, and Current Interpretations of the H-19 and H-l 1 Tracer Tests at the WIPP Site; presented at the (NEA/OECD) GEOTRAP Workshop on Field-Tracer Transport Experiments, Cologne, Germany, August 28–30, 1996.Google Scholar