Modeling solute transport through saturated zone ground water at 10 km scale: example from the Yucca Mountain license application.

This paper presents a study of solute transport through ground water in the saturated zone and the resulting breakthrough curves (BTCs), using a field-scale numerical model that incorporates the processes of advection, dispersion, matrix diffusion in fractured volcanic formations, sorption, and colloid-facilitated transport. Such BTCs at compliance boundaries are often used as performance measures for a site. The example considered here is that of the saturated zone study prepared for the Yucca Mountain license application.

Practical postcalibration uncertainty analysis: Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

The values of parameters in a groundwater flow model govern the precision of predictions of future system behavior. Predictive precision, thus, typically depends on an ability to infer values of system properties from historical measurements through calibration. When such data are scarce, or when their information content with respect to parameters that are most relevant to predictions of interest is weak, predictive uncertainty may be high, even if the model is "calibrated.

The site-scale saturated zone flow model for Yucca Mountain: calibration of different conceptual models and their impact on flow paths.

This paper presents several different conceptual models of the Large Hydraulic Gradient (LHG) region north of Yucca Mountain and describes the impact of those models on groundwater flow near the potential high-level repository site. The results are based on a numerical model of site-scale saturated zone beneath Yucca Mountain. This model is used for performance assessment predictions of radionuclide transport and to guide future data collection and modeling activities.