Seismic safety is one of the factors that must be considered in the disposal of nuclear waste in deep geologic media. This report reviews the data on damage to underground equipment and structures from earthquakes, the record of associated motions, and the conventional methods of seismic safety-analysis and engineering. Safety considerations may be divided into two classes: those during the operational life of a disposal focility, and those pertinent to the post-decommissioning life of the facility. Operational hazards may be mitigated by conventional construction practices and site selection criteria. Events that would materially affect the long-term integrity of a decommissioned facility appear to be highly unlikely and can be substantially avoided by conservative site selection and facility design. These events include substantial fault movement within the disposal facility and severe ground shaking in an earthquake epicentral region. Techniques need to be developed to address the question of long-term earthquake probability in relatively aseismic regions, and for discriminating between active and extinct faults in regions where earthquake activity does not result in surface ruptures. vn 430 km (San Juan Bautista to Shelter Cove or Pt. Delgada, CA) 275 km (near San Bernardino to Parkfield, CA) 15 km along strike 8 km down dip Not reported. Not reported. Not reported. a See Wesson, et al. (1975). b See Sieh (1978). c See Savage, et al. (1975). d See Oakeshott (1969). Calculated from seismic data, maximum observed surface displacement totalled about 1.9 m.
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The authors of this report wish to recognize, with appreciation, that many persons contributed to its preparation. Among these persons are Earth Sciences Division Leader Robert N. Schock, Project Manager James F. Scheimer, and Engineering Geology Group Leader Harold C. Ganow. These individuals provided technical and administrative expertise necessary to keep project investigations on track. Dennis W. Peifer, Technician Associate provided critical logistical support and supervision of laborers and aided greatly in trench logging and preparation of drawings. Sandra Vinson and Robert R. Poulin prepared and expedited contract riocumenls, and construction inspector Bill Martz provided invaluable liaison with contractor forces and the LLNL Facilities Engineering Department. California State University, Hayward students Robert Clark, Jim Springer, and Frank Ciminesi provided capable assistance during trench preparation and logging. The cooperation and assistance of the Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, extended through Plant Engineer William E. Thompson, is gratefully acknowledged. The authors of this report also benefited greatly from informal discussions with geoscience personnel from federal, state, and local agencies who examined the exploratory trenches and other excavations that provided essential field data for this study. These professional colleagues include:
Lithology and mechanical logs of Salina Group near northeast margin of Michigan basin 16 1U Site geologic cross section B-B' southeastern New Mexico (WIPP) site 28 II Cross section through Salt Valley in Grand County, Utah 31 12 Stages in the formation of Gulf Coast salt domes 34 13 Progressive development of a breccia pipe 49 14 Progressive development of a breccia blanket 51 lb Relative seismicity map, coterminous United States 59 16 Progressive development of a breccia pipe with flow paths ....... 78 17 Progressive development of a breccia blanket with flow paths 8U 18 Dissolution along a well borehole penetrating salt 81 19 Groundwater inflow through new or existing fractures 83 2\i Groundwater inflow through interbeds and facies variations ....... 88 21 (a) Porosity and effective porosity in a sedimentary rock; (b) Migration of brine in salt 90 22 Well, borehole or shaft sealing failures. . 92 23 Idealized thermal convection pattern 99 24 Example of normal rock response to application of stress 106-viii-LIST OF FIGURES (Continued) 25 Idealized creep curve and strain recovery for a rock material 109 Elastic, yielding, and failure characteristics of rocks in stress space 27 Thermal conductivity of sandstones and shales with respect to temperature 137 28 Thermal conductivities of carbonate rocks with respect to temperature 138 2y Thermal conductivity of single crystal salt showing temperature and pressure effects 139 30 Thermal conductivity of anhydrite and gypsum vs. solidity 110 31 Thermal ronductivity of shale and the effects of quartz and clay content 32 Thermal conductivity of sandstone with water in the pores showing effects of porosity and quartz content 33 Thermal conductivity of dolomite vs. solidity 34 Thermal conductivity of limestone vs. solidity 35 Schematic layout of repository 3b Expanded repository layout 37 Illustration of pre-grouting prior to sinking shaft through water bearing zone 38a Cross section of Main Airways and Manifolds 3Bb Cross section of waste storage rooms .......... 39 Canister surface and storage room floor temperature histories for both ventilated (with 79°F air at 10,000 cfm) and unventilated cases.. 203 40 Storage room floor temperature histories representing cool-down (10,000 cfm of 79°F air) from an unventilated state after 5, 10, and 50 years 204 41 Schematic diagram showing stopping placement during mining 208 42 Accident matrix linking failure events and work activities 226 43 Accident matrix linking work activities und locations ......... 226 44 Stratigraphic succession in Michigan Basin (after Michigan Geological Society, 1964) 251 45 Site geologic column southeastern New Mexico (WIPP) site 252 46 Detailed stratigraphy through potential repository horizons 254-259-ix-LIST OF TABLES 1 Conductivity of Fractured Rock in the United States 2 Fracture zones in salt repositories, preferred values for general fracture zones 45 Summary statistic of creep tests 4 Summary of secondary creep estimates 122 5 LIST OF TABLES (Continued) 20 Distribution of accidents by category 219 ...
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