Re: volcano?

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@ICX.NET>]

That would really depend on the type of volcano!  A Mount St.

Helens-type would just spread it all around.  Of course, no one is

foolish enough to site a radwaste repository in an active andesitic

volcanic regime like the Pacific northwest (it's foolish enough to site

major cities there).  



Most of the theoretical volcano concerns I've heard have been in regards

to Yucca Mtn.  In that case, the granite mountain would not be

penetrated by the volcano or its lava pipes; lava like water follows the

path of least resistance and would travel through the heavily fractured

down-faulted areas, emerging on the dry lake beds or at worst adjacent

to the mountains.  This extensional geologic regime is characterized by

basaltic lavas, which are not explosive and spread out in sheet flows or

form relatively small cinder cones.



Gee, all those underground explosions at NTS didn't start any volcanos

(or cause any big earthquakes)--I don't think there is likely to be a

problem with either at Yucca Mtn.  Let's get that spent fuel on the road

(an opinion shared by the Local Oversight Committee)!



Regards,

Susan



> Volcanos bting up molten rock through "pipes" a few sq. m. cross

> sectional area, so if a volcano came up thru a waste repository, only a

> tiny fraction of the stored radwaste would be affected. The rest would

> become more tightly sealed.



-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

Please visit our Web site - http://www.local-oversight.org

.....................................................

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