Assessment of fracture-sampling techniques for laboratory tests on core

As part of the site characterization work to be done at Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nevada, a candidate site for the first mined-geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste, laboratory tests are proposed to evaluate fluid flow in single fractures. Laboratory and onsite tests were conducted to develop methods for collecting rock-core samples containing single fractures for the subsequent laboratory tests. Techniques for collecting rock cores with axial (parallel to the core axis) and radial (perpendicular to the core axis) fractures are discussed.