An Overview of the Inyo County Geophysical Program in the Death Valley Area

Abstract

Yucca Mountain, Nevada has been proposed as the site of the high-level nuclear waste repository for the United States. The repository concept uses the philosophy of multiple barriers, both engineered and natural, each of which impedes the movement of radionuclides into the accessible environment. The proposed repository would be in the unsaturated zone in Tertiary tuffaceous rocks. The principal transporting mechanism for radionuclides is moving ground water. Underlying the repository is an extensive Lower Carbonate Aquifer known to be highly permeable. Inyo County, as an affected unit of local government under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, as amended, is concerned with the connections between the Lower Carbonate Aquifer underlying Yucca Mountain and the carbonate sources of waters in Inyo County, especially the Death Valley region. A primary concern of Inyo County is the potential connection between the carbonate aquifer beneath Yucca Mountain and the system of springs that discharge along the foot of the mountain ranges along the eastern wall of Death Valley.