A case history of the Marysville geothermal anomaly from a nuclear waste disposal perspective

A case history of a mild geothermal area near Marysville, Montana has been compiled in order to learn about the effects that long-term heat generated by an irradiated fuel repository might have on the surrounding rock mass. The results of geological and geophysical surveys are summarized and the hydrogeological conditions in the granite mass, as measured in a 2 km deep borehole, are described. A model is proposed which accounts for the hydrothermal circulation and explains some of the geophysical observations. The implications to deep burial of nuclear wastes are discussed