Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

3-3 3-4
Comment Comment
Number Number
that this represents a single sample from Pikes Peak (Pirsson, pg. 169) 2. The Keweenawan Series is misplotted as is the Triassic of N.J. and
It would have been better to use Tschirwinsky's average of 90 analyses Connecticut. This is not surprising as the map of the Keweenawan
(Pirsson, pg. 169) which results in a significantly different chemical which was supposedly used in compiling this map (Y/OWI/TM 36/7,
composition for an "average" granite. An alternate source of information Figure 3-1) is illegible.
is Clark, S.P., 1966, "Handbook of Physical Constants," Geol. Soc. of
Amer. 3. Reference Y/OWI/TM 36/7 is cited as a source of information for the
location of the Triassic "Lavas." There is no information on the
3.a.7 p. 3.1.13 Triassic in this publication.
p. 7.2.10, DOE/ET-0028
Figure 3.1.3 does not appear in Reference 10 as indicated in GEIS. Appar- 4. The expression Keweenawan and Triassic "Lavas" is misleading, as many
ently it was adopted from a similar but slightly different diagram in of these basalts are not extrusive igneous rocks, e.g., Palisades
Y/OWI/TM 36/3 which was adapted from OWI-76-26 and Tourtelot 1962. The Sill.
orginal references should have been used. The figure's caption implies
that it shows all the shale formations (sic) in the U.S.. However, there 5. Figure 7.2.4 could not have been developed from information found in
are a number of significant omissions such as the thick shales found in Y/OWI/TM-44.
the Appalachian foldbelt, the Ouachita Mts., Anadarko Basin, and the
Midland, Marfa, and Delaware Basins of West Texas. 3.a.10 p. 3.1.32
The first paragraph does not reflect fissure and joint permeability differ-
3.a.8 p. 3.1.14 ences, and induced characteristics due to construction. The final paragraph
The table is very important since it is a direct numerical comparison of makes an assertion that is not supported; i.e., no bases have been provided
major host rock types. Therefore, the selection of numerical ratings for to support the conclusion that groundwater inflow can always "...be controlled
each characteristic of each rock type should be discussed, by state-of-the-art engineering technology."
3.a.9 p. 3.1.14 3.a.11 p. 3.1.67
p. 7.2.13, DOE/ET-0028 The age of the earth is given as 10 billion years. The current geologic
Figures 3.1.4 and 7.2.4 are incorrectly referenced, are incorrect and estimate of the age is 5 billion years.
misleading:
3.a.12 p. 7.2.2, DOE/ET-0028
1. They fail to show some of the other basalt areas which should be The statement that: "The repository should not be sited in or near an
assessed as candidates for deep geological burial of HLW, e.g., area in whch igneous or volcanic activity has occurred during the post-
Colorado Plateau, Rio Grande Valley, San Juan Mts. of Colorado, Snake Pleistocene" should be assessed and actively discussed by DOE. An assess-
River Plains, Triassic Basins of the Carolinas, Virginia and ment should be made of the potential for volcanic activity and its impact
Pennsylvania.