Sensitivity in volcanic hazard assessment for the Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository site: The model and the data

Abstract

Both advocates and critics disagree on the significance and interpretation of critical geological features which relate to the safety and suitability of Yucca Mountain as a site for the construction of a high-level radioactive waste repository. Recent volcanism in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain is recognized readily by geologists and others with a knowledge of nuclear regulatory requirements as an important factor in determining future public and environmental safety. We regard basaltic volcanism as direct and unequivocal evidence of deep-seated geologic instability. Direct disruption of a repository site by basaltic volcanism therefore is a possibility. In this paper, sensitivity analysis of volcanic hazard assessment for the Yucca Mountain site is performed, taking into account some significant geological factors raised by experts. Three types of models are considered in the sensitivity data analysis. The first model assumes that both past and future volcanic activities follow a Homogeneous Poisson Process (HPP). The second model uses a Weibull Process (WP) to estimate the instantaneous recurrence rate based on the historical data at NTS (the Nevada Test Site). The model then switches from a WP of past events to a predictive HPP. The third model assumes that the prior historical trend based on a WP would continue for future activities. Hazards (at least one disruptive event during the next 10,000 years) using both classical and Bayesian approaches are evaluated based on the data for the following two observation periods: Pliocene and younger, and Quaternary. Combinations of various counts of events at volcanic centers of controversy and inclusion (or exclusion) of the youngest date at Lathrop Wells Center (=0.01 Ma) generate 90 different data sets. Sensitivity analysis is performed for each data set and the minimum and the maximum hazards for each model are summarized. We conclude that the estimated overall probability of at least one disruption of a repository at the Yucca Mountain site by basaltic volcanism during the next 10,000 years is bounded between 2.02×105 and 6.57×10−3.