Video Tour of Underground Engineering Tests

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Introduction
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In December 1997, researchers at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, switched on the most extensive of four types of thermal tests of Yucca Mountain rock. These tests, some of which will go on for several years, are designed to show how heat from spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste will affect the nearby rock.
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The latest test, the Drift-Scale Test, called for heating a 47-meter- (155-foot)-long tunnel in Alcove 5 of the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) to temperatures of up to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit). Scientists conduct their experiment in a test tunnel roughly the same size and shape as those that would store waste canisters in a repository.

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Researchers designed the Drift-Scale Test to reach the temperatures anticipated in a repository.
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ESF workers install electric cables in one of the nine canisters used to simulate repository emplacement canisters. Thirty electric heaters are contained within each canister. This test will continue for several years.

 The tunnel segment was heated for four years, then entered “cool-down” in January 2002. Currently, the project monitors temperature, displacement, hydrological and chemical data. Of particular interest are potential incidents in the drift such as, rock scaling or returning moisture.

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Placement of the boreholes for monitoring rock temperature and displacement are shown in two 3-D simulation movies below. The simulation in time for the heating is also shown in two movies, where you can see that it takes a year for the tunnel to come to full temperature.
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* for more information see Yucca Mountain Fact Sheets

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During the Drift-Scale test, an alcove approximately 50 meters (164 feet) in length will be heated over a period of several years by electric heaters placed on the floor and in the walls (wing heaters) of the drift. The floor heaters will be similar in dimensions to the waste canisters that would be stored in the potential repository.
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Video Tour of Thermal Test Tunnel

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Works best in Explorer (IE)

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You may need to download movie software.

Looking at the walls

Looking down the tunnel
 

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Engineers inspect the interior of the heated tunnel using two video cameras that travel along the tunnel. Both cameras are bolted to the same fixture.

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The left view (CAM1) looks sideways at the walls. The mesh on the wall has a 10 cm web to catch small rocks.
The right view (CAM2) looks down the tunnel. The camera fixture rotates azimuthally 330 degrees to inspect the wall and both images spin. Then the fixture travels 75 cm further and rotates in the reverse direction. With these steps it can inspect the entire tunnel.
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You can see the same images as a web-movie. Turn up the sound on your computer to hear the inspectors calling out positions as the cameras move.
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3-D Images of the Heated Drift configuration
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Play 3-D display by clicking buttons under selected images

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Heating Simulations

Play Heating Simulations by clicking buttons under selected images