Microbial Impacts to the Near-Field Environmental Geochemistry (MING): A Model for Estimating Microbial Communities in Repository Drifts at YUCCA Mountain.

Jolley, D. M. ; Ehrhorn, T. F. ; Horn, J.

Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee

关键词: Yucca Mountain;    Geochemistry;    Microorganisms;    Microbial processes;    Radioactive wastes;   

RP-ID  :  DE2004807051

学科分类：工程和技术（综合）

美国|英语

来源: National Technical Reports Library

【 摘 要 】

Geochemical and microbiological modeling was performed to evaluate the potential quantities and impact of microorganisms on the geochemistry of the area adjacent to and within nuclear waste packages in the proposed repository drifts at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The microbial growth results from the introduction of water, ground support, and waste package materials into the deep unsaturated rock. The simulations, which spanned one million years, were accomplished using a newly developed computer code, Microbial Impacts to the Near-Field Environment Geochemistry (MING). MING uses environmental thresholds for limiting microbial growth to temperatures below 120 C and above relative humidities of 90 percent in repository drifts. Once these thresholds are met, MING expands upon a mass balance and thermodynamic approach proposed by McKinley and others (1997), by using kinetic rates to supply constituents from design materials and constituent fluxes including solubilized rock components into the drift, to perform two separate mass-balance calculations as a function of time.