Although some observers have concluded that the technology required to assure safe disposal of nuclear wastes is currently available, others have expressed concern about the stability of the institutions that might be required to maintain the isolation of nuclear wastes. Questions about institutional stability and other factors associated with nuclear power and nuclear waste have been the subject of some study in public opinion research.

Site suitability studies at LLL to date have considered repositories in bedded salt and shale.

The study of geosciences and their relation to nuclear waste disposal and<br/>management entails analyzing the hydrology, chemistry, and geometry of the<br/>nuclear waste migration process. Hydrologic effects are determined by<br/>analyzing the porosity and permeability (natural and induced) of rock as well,<br/>as pressures and gradients, dispersion, and aquifer length of the system.<br/>Chemistry parameters include radionuclide retardation factors and waste<br/>dissolution rate.

The primary goal of the ongoing LLL program is to develop the technology and data base required to license a nuclear repository in a crystalline rock medium, located at or near the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Our secondary goal is to apply this technology in helping the Department of Energy (DOE) develop repositories in other media and locations.

Bedded-salt deposits of the Salado Formation have been selected for evaluation for a proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to be located in Eddy County, NM, -26 mi east of Carlsbad, Site selection and evaluation studies that included geologic mapping, geophysical surveys, drilling, and resource appraisal were conducted over and under the prospective location. The lower portion of the Salado meets essential criteria for waste isolation. Beds chosen for waste storage lie 2074-2730 ft below the surface.

This report presents the results of our mining, geological<br/>and geotechnical studies provided in support of the development<br/>of site suitability criteria for the high level waste<br/>repository. This work was performed in accordance with our<br/>unsolicited proposal to LLL dated January 1977 and authorized<br/>by the University Purchase Order 6115603.

From the very early stages of the nuclear waste management<br/>program, salt has been advocated as the most suitable geologic<br/>medium in which to store high-level radioactive wastes (HLW).<br/>The primary reason for this is based on the fact that, relative<br/>to other rock types, salt has a low yield strength with the<br/>result that, at the confining pressures that exist at depths<br/>of a few thousand feet, salt will deform plastically.

There are two waste management R&D programs of national significance that are being administered for ERDA by the Union Carbide Corporation — Nuclear Division (UCC/ND). The National Waste Terminal Storage (NWTS) program is concerned with the development of geologic repositories for commercial nuclear fuel cycle wastes, and is organized as the Office of Waste Isolation within UCC/ND.