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Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Final Report (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix D: Glossary
Pages 132-136

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From page 132...
... Backfill in excavations may or may not be the material originally removed. In the WIPP, magnesium oxide is the engineered backfill that replaces the mined salt and is placed in the free spaces surrounding the waste containers.
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From page 133...
... Compared to the intact rock salt, the DRZ will have increased porosity because of the microfracturing, increased permeability as a result of interconnection of the microfractures, and decreased load-bearing capacity or strength. Dolomite: Sedimentary rock consisting mostly of the mineral dolomite, calcium magnesium carbonate.
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From page 134...
... These closures will consist of a rigid concrete barrier and an isolation wall made of concrete construction block with an isolation zone between them. Parameter: Algebraic symbol representative of a well-defined physical quantity with a numerical value.
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From page 135...
... A more precise definition, in DOE Order 5820.2A, EPA regulation 40 CFR 191, and the Land Withdrawal Act, is waste that is not high-level waste but is "contaminated with alpha-emitting radionuclides of atomic number greater than 92 and half-lives greater than 20 years in concentrations greater than 100 nanocuries per gram." The regulatory definition excludes actinide elements with atomic numbers between 90 and 92 (most significantly, thorium and uranium isotopes) , which is in agreement with the literal meaning of "transuranic." However, common usage of the term "transuranic waste" is often understood to include all actinides.
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From page 136...
... Wattage Limit: In this report, the allowed maximum amount of heat generated by radioactive decay during transportation of TRU waste. The wattage limit for TRUPACT-II containers is 40 watts (40 joules per second)
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Key Terms

  • rock salt
  • ionizing radiation
  • thin layers
  • land withdrawal
  • dissolved solids

  • panel closures
  • rustler formation
  • total thickness
  • saturated continuum
  • magnesium carbonate

  • secondary recovery
  • wipp repository
  • volume element
  • allowed maximum
  • repository shafts

  • closely spaced
  • formation ranging
  • ochoan formation
  • chemical species
  • energy absorbed

  • mined salt
  • rock zone
  • concrete barrier
  • ochoan geologic
  • evaporite deposits

  • borehole plugs
  • drilling mud
  • materials include
  • total dissolved
  • apparent velocity


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