Thursday, April 20, 2000 | 10:45 a.m.
The U.S. Department of Energy and Nye County will add four more test wells southwest of Yucca Mountain, where the DOE proposes a high-level nuclear waste repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Both the county and the DOE have agreed to install the wells by the end of next year to trace ground water flows in the Amargosa Valley, about 12 miles southwest. Yucca Mountain is the only site being studied to store the nation's 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste.
The DOE will request funds for the Nye wells from Congress in next year's Yucca Mountain budget. The amount of the request is unknown, DOE Yucca Mountain spokeswoman Gayle Fraser said Wednesday.
Eight months ago the DOE and Nye County officials began talking about the project to study ground water flow, its direction and how fast it moves into Amargosa Valley.
The DOE has proposed carving the repository 1,000 feet beneath the mountain, at least 800 feet above the known ground water level.
One of the concerns in building the repository is whether ground water might be able to reach the waste containers within the next 10,000 years. A research team is studying crystals from the mountain's volcanic rock to determine whether ground water was present at the repository level thousands or millions of years ago.
The new wells will explore the saturated zone closer to the surface, Fraser said. The test wells will help determine what direction the water flows at that level and how fast.
On average the Nye County Early Warning Drilling Program has spent less than $1 million per hole to drill the test wells.
The DOE gave the county $10 million over three years to drill the first eight wells, hire consultants and analyze water samples. Some results have already surprised Nye researchers.
Last year one of Nye's wells downhill from Yucca had warmer-than-expected water at a shallower depth than expected. Drillers struck water in one well at 240 feet. The water chemistry is being analyzed.
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