Analogues to Features and Processes of a High-Level Radioactive Waste Repository Proposed for Yucca Mountain, Nevada

The presentation of analogues in this report is a culmination of years of work by a number of persons who searched for analogues for features, materials, and processes likely to be found in, and determining aspects of the behavior of, a repository for high-level radioactive waste in thick, unsaturated tuffs proposed at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The analogues discussed provide valuable scientific and technical insight into the functioning of a high-level radioactive waste repository in a semiarid, unsaturated, fractured-rock environment. The analogues presented will have a variety of applications, such as tunnel excavation in fractured unsaturated media, either for transport or storage of materials or energy.