tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737183368235758367.post7545898412989392279..comments2023-09-12T11:25:11.244-04:00Comments on 365: Day 204: The Salt Advantagejamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16433954993798129607noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737183368235758367.post-87386649961286024362009-01-12T11:32:00.000-05:002009-01-12T11:32:00.000-05:00Jamie -Your blog came up on a Google news search. ...Jamie -<BR/><BR/>Your blog came up on a Google news search. I have several comments on your blog and one on the InfraNet Lab entry...<BR/><BR/>WIPP is located in a salt bed, not a salt dome - big difference: the first is structurally stable, the other is buoyant and unstable. The waste at WIPP is not high-level, it is transuranic (radionuclides heavier than uranium, such as plutonium, neptunium, americium, etc.). High-level waste has a specific definition in federal regulations. The waste is not being stored underground, it's being permanently disposed of - also a big difference. There is no intention to retrieve or recover the waste at a later date. Finally, there is no physical or stratigraphic connection between WIPP and Carlsbad Caverns.<BR/><BR/>On the InfraNet Lab article, there is general concensus that the disposal rooms will not "flood", but for modeling purposes it's assumed that there is sufficient liquid to totally degrade and consume the waste containers by oxidation (rusting). And I have no idea what they meant by "... if it doesn't first collapse as it is predicted to do before its 1000th birthday" (apparently meant to be within the first 1000 years). The salt flows plastically (creeps) and encases the waste - there may be occasional roof falls (note the pattern bolting in the ceiling in your photo), but eventually the cracks heal and seal to form a competent rock formation entombing the waste.<BR/><BR/>Hope this helps. For further references to WIPP, visit www.nmenv.state.nm.us/wipp/wipplinks.html.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com