Regulations last checked for updates: May 17, 2024

Title 40 - Protection of Environment last revised: May 15, 2024
§ 197.26 - What are the circumstances of the human intrusion?

For the purposes of the analysis of human intrusion, DOE must make the following assumptions:

(a) There is a single human intrusion as a result of exploratory drilling for ground water;

(b) The intruders drill a borehole directly through a degraded waste package into the uppermost aquifer underlying the Yucca Mountain repository;

(c) The drillers use the common techniques and practices that are currently employed in exploratory drilling for ground water in the region surrounding Yucca Mountain;

(d) Careful sealing of the borehole does not occur, instead natural degradation processes gradually modify the borehole;

(e) Only releases of radionuclides that occur as a result of the intrusion and that are transported through the resulting borehole to the saturated zone are projected; and

(f) No releases are included which are caused by unlikely natural processes and events.

authority: Sec. 801, Pub. L. 102-486, 106 Stat. 2921, 42 U.S.C. 10141 n
source: 66 FR 32132, June 13, 2001, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 40 CFR 197.26