Statistical guidelines for planning a limited drilling program

Site characterization for potential nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in south-central Nevada will include the construction of a limited number of new drill holes to depths below the repository horizon from which information about the properties of the surrounding and underlying tuffs can be obtained. Quantitative techniques to estimate the amount of information to be gained from a proposed drilling plan are developed. These estimates are to be compared with economic costs and with risk analysis requirements for the potential repository. In some cases the existing data, although extremely limited, are sufficient for preliminary application of these methods. 33 refs., 19 figs., 3 tabs