Geology of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository site, Nevada
Yucca Mountain, located about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, has been recommended by the President for a mined geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste. This field trip will examine the geologic and hydrologic setting for Yucca Mountain, as well as specific results of the site characterization program. The field trip will visit the locations for underground in situ testing in the “Exploratory Studies Facility” plus several locales for surface-based tests. Discussions will comprise selected topics of Yucca Mountain geology, unsaturated zone hydrology, saturated zone hydrology and geochemistry and will include the probabilistic volcanic hazard analysis and the seismicity and seismic hazard analyses in the Yucca Mountain area. Emphasis of the field trip is the relationship of the geology and hydrology of Yucca Mountain to the performance of a repository that will safely isolate nuclear waste.