Are Arid Regions Always that Appropriate for Waste Disposal? Examples of Complexity from Yucca Mountain, Nevada
The study of the hydrology of arid regions greatly expanded at the end of the 20th century as humans sought to reduce groundwater pollution from landfills, waste dumps and other forms of land disposal. Historically viewed as wastelands where little or no water percolated to the underlying water tabl...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Geosciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/1/30 |
| _version_ | 1819010320295788544 |
|---|---|
| author | Scott W. Tyler |
| author_facet | Scott W. Tyler |
| author_sort | Scott W. Tyler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The study of the hydrology of arid regions greatly expanded at the end of the 20th century as humans sought to reduce groundwater pollution from landfills, waste dumps and other forms of land disposal. Historically viewed as wastelands where little or no water percolated to the underlying water table, the discovery of large-scale contamination beneath arid disposal sites such as the Hanford nuclear complex in eastern Washington jumpstarted an industry in studying the hydrology of arid vadose zones and their transport behavior. These studies showed that, in spite of hyper aridity in many areas, precipitation often did infiltrate to deep water. The efforts at Yucca Mountain, Nevada to design a high-level nuclear repository stand out as one of the largest of such studies, and one that fundamentally changed our understanding of not only water flow in fractured rocks, but also of the range of our uncertainty of hydrologic processes in arid regions. In this review and commentary, we present some of the initial concepts of flow at Yucca Mountain, and the evolution in research to quantify the concepts. In light of continued stockpiling of high-level waste, and the renewed interest in opening Yucca Mountain for high-level waste, we then focus on the significant surprises and unanswered questions that remained after the end of the characterization and licensing period; questions that continue to demonstrate the challenges of a geologic repository and our uncertainty about critical processes for long-term, safe storage or disposal of some of our most toxic waste products. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:10:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e1f3f2d8c28b4e55b7b2f4896219dab1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3263 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:10:23Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-e1f3f2d8c28b4e55b7b2f4896219dab12022-12-21T19:20:56ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632020-01-011013010.3390/geosciences10010030geosciences10010030Are Arid Regions Always that Appropriate for Waste Disposal? Examples of Complexity from Yucca Mountain, NevadaScott W. Tyler0Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USAThe study of the hydrology of arid regions greatly expanded at the end of the 20th century as humans sought to reduce groundwater pollution from landfills, waste dumps and other forms of land disposal. Historically viewed as wastelands where little or no water percolated to the underlying water table, the discovery of large-scale contamination beneath arid disposal sites such as the Hanford nuclear complex in eastern Washington jumpstarted an industry in studying the hydrology of arid vadose zones and their transport behavior. These studies showed that, in spite of hyper aridity in many areas, precipitation often did infiltrate to deep water. The efforts at Yucca Mountain, Nevada to design a high-level nuclear repository stand out as one of the largest of such studies, and one that fundamentally changed our understanding of not only water flow in fractured rocks, but also of the range of our uncertainty of hydrologic processes in arid regions. In this review and commentary, we present some of the initial concepts of flow at Yucca Mountain, and the evolution in research to quantify the concepts. In light of continued stockpiling of high-level waste, and the renewed interest in opening Yucca Mountain for high-level waste, we then focus on the significant surprises and unanswered questions that remained after the end of the characterization and licensing period; questions that continue to demonstrate the challenges of a geologic repository and our uncertainty about critical processes for long-term, safe storage or disposal of some of our most toxic waste products.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/1/30arid hydrologynuclear wasteyucca mountain |
| spellingShingle | Scott W. Tyler Are Arid Regions Always that Appropriate for Waste Disposal? Examples of Complexity from Yucca Mountain, Nevada Geosciences arid hydrology nuclear waste yucca mountain |
| title | Are Arid Regions Always that Appropriate for Waste Disposal? Examples of Complexity from Yucca Mountain, Nevada |
| title_full | Are Arid Regions Always that Appropriate for Waste Disposal? Examples of Complexity from Yucca Mountain, Nevada |
| title_fullStr | Are Arid Regions Always that Appropriate for Waste Disposal? Examples of Complexity from Yucca Mountain, Nevada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are Arid Regions Always that Appropriate for Waste Disposal? Examples of Complexity from Yucca Mountain, Nevada |
| title_short | Are Arid Regions Always that Appropriate for Waste Disposal? Examples of Complexity from Yucca Mountain, Nevada |
| title_sort | are arid regions always that appropriate for waste disposal examples of complexity from yucca mountain nevada |
| topic | arid hydrology nuclear waste yucca mountain |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/1/30 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT scottwtyler arearidregionsalwaysthatappropriateforwastedisposalexamplesofcomplexityfromyuccamountainnevada |