Analysis of heat and mass transport processes near an emplaced nuclear waste canister; Final report

A review has been performed of the models and experimental plans for evaluation of the spent fuel canister environment in a nuclear repository, e.g., the planned Yucca Mountain facilities. Special emphasis was placed on the relevance of the models and experiments to the 100 to 10,000 year prediction. The question was addressed whether one could justify testing in materials other than Yucca Mountain rock and obtain results in a relatively short time which would be relevant to the long time in Yucca Mountain. The paper discusses steam evolution in calculations and experiments, fracture models, possible measurements of relative permeability, and long time scale effects. 5 figs. (MB