Preliminary determination of mechanical properties on rock salt from southeastern New Mexico

Determination of the mechanical properties of New Mexico rock salt is motivated by the intent of the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) to isolate existing and anticipated radioactive waste permanently from the environment. As one of various concepts under consideration, ERDA plans to construct a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for transuranic and high level waste disposal experiments in the salt beds of the Delaware Basin in southeastern New Mexico. To support the design of this facility, a rock salt test program was initiated under the management of Sandia Laboratories. The purpose of this paper is to report the progress of this effort. The nature of the available material and the total test schedule for rock salt from southeastern New Mexico are outlined here. This discussion is followed by a description of new apparatus that was developed for this program. Finally, some preliminary results will be presented and discussed. Special emphasis was placed on the design and calibrations of equipment after consideration of the particular characteristics of rock salt and the resulting experimental requirements