FINAL REPORT OF THE PE??A BLANCA NATURAL ANALOGUE PROJECT

[摘要] The Pe??a Blanca region, 50 km north of Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, M??xico, was a target of uranium exploration and mining by the Mexican government. After mining ceased in 1981, researchers became interested in this region as a study area for subsurface uranium migration with relevance to geologic disposal of nuclear waste. Many studies related to this concept were conducted at the Nopal I mine site located on a cuesta (hill) of the Sierra Pe??a Blanca. This site has geologic, tectonic, hydrologic, and geochemical similarities to Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a formerly proposed site for a high-level nuclear-waste repository in the unsaturated zone. The U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE), Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), sponsored studies at Nopal I in the 1990s and supported the drilling of three research wells ??? PB1, PB2, and PB3 ??? at the site in 2003. Beginning in 2004, the Pe??a Blanca Natural Analogue Project was undertaken by U.S. DOE, OCRWM to develop a three-dimensional conceptual model of the transport of uranium and its radiogenic daughter products at the Nopal I site.

[发布日期] 2016-10-04

[学科分类] 核能源与工程

[关键词] Pena Blaca;Nopal I;natural analogue;Mexico