The residential areas of Kuwait City have been affected by a rise in the subsurface‐water level in recent years, causing waterlogging and flooding of the basements of buildings. To study this phenomenon, and to ascertain its causes, a numerical aquifer simulation model was developed. The aquifer model showed that, over the period 1961‐1985, the net yearly addition to the aquifer storage due to the contribution from man‐made sources like sewage systems, irrigation, and water distribution networks, ranged from 8,300 to 10,100 m3 d−1, causing a subsurface‐water‐level rise of about 5 m locally, resulting in high water‐table conditions. A maximum local rise in the water table of 2.5 m was predicted between the end of 1985 and 1990, if no remedial actions are undertaken. Preventive methods to reduce or eliminate recharge from man‐made activities would help control the water‐level rise and even lower the water table in affected areas. Remedial measures to lower and maintain the subsurface‐water level at acceptable depths would entail the withdrawal of significant quantities of ground water.
Over time, nuclear waste packages disposed in geological repositories are expected to fail gradually due to localized and general corrosion. As a result, water will have access to the nuclear waste and radionuclides will be transported to the accessible environment by ground water. In this paper we consider a serious failure case in which penetrations at the top and bottom of the waste package will allow water to flow through it (flow-through model). We introduce a new conceptual model that examines the effect of the residual heat release of the nuclear waste stored in an unsaturated environment on radionuclide release. This model predicts that the evaporation of water at the hotter sheltered areas (from condensate and seepage) inside the failed waste package will create a capillary pressure gradient that drives water to wick with its dissolved and suspended contents toward these relict areas, effectively preventing radionuclides release. We drive a dimensionless group to estimate the minimum length of the sheltered areas required to sequester radionuclides and prevent their release. The implications of this model on the performance of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain or unsaturated zone geological repositories in general are explored.
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