Performance implications of waste package emplacement orientation

Emplacement borehole orientation directly impacts many aspects of the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) and interactions with the near field environment. This paper considers the impacts of orientation on the hydrologic portion of the environment and its interactions with the EBS. The hydrologic environment is considered from a conceptual standpoint, the numerical analyses are left for subsequent work. As reported in this paper, several aspects of the hydrological environment are more favorable for long term performance of vertically oriented rather than horizontally oriented Waste Packages. 19 refs., 15 figs.