Breakthrough of Contaminant Plumes in Saturated Volcanic Rock: Implications from the Yucca Mountain Site

This paper presents a study of transverse plume spreading and its effect on breakthrough curves (BTCs), using literature survey and model analysis of field-scale behavior. Such BTCs at compliance boundaries are often used as performance measures for a site. The example considered here is that of the saturated zone (SZ) at the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) site, Nevada. The SZ at the YMP site occurs partly in fractured volcanic rock formations and partly in alluvial formations. This paper addresses two questions regarding transport of contaminant plumes in saturated volcanic rocks: 1) are any occurrences of broad contaminant plumes in fractured saturated rock documented in the literature, and 2) based on model predictions, what are the effects of lateral plume spreading on downstream BTCs. The results of a literature survey on the occurrences of radionuclide or tracer plumes in saturated, fractured rocks world-wide are presented. Three sites with reported plume data - Idaho National laboratory (INL), Oak Ridge (ORNL), and Hanford - are discussed in some detail, along with summaries of work at some sites underlain by unconsolidated rocks for comparison. Plumes reported with substantial lateral spreading include a tritium plume at INL, a tritium plume in Melton Valley at ORNL, and a chloride plume at Hanford. The results of the survey show that occurances of plumes with transverse spreading are documented in the literature. A numerical model of transport through the fractured and porous formations at the YMP site is used for accessing the influence of transverse dispersion on the BTCs at the compliance boundary. The model incorporates dual-porosity flow with solute diffusion in fractured-rock formations, along with linear sorption of solutes on the rock matrix. A flow model using a site-specific hydrological framework model forms the basis of the transport model. The flow model was calibrated to measured head data and boundary fluxes derived from the regional model, and was validated using site-specific information. At the location of the compliance boundary, the length-to-width ratio of a conservative solute plume originating from a distributed source decreases from about 20:1 to about 4:1 as the horizontal transverse dispersivity is varied from 0.05 m to 10 m. This lateral spreading does not directly affect the BTCs integrated across the entire model width at the compliance boundary.