Cartoon animation showing the UNE cavity created by the blast and the subsequent transport of radionuclide gases out of the cavity and into the rock fractures.
Copyright © John P. Ortiz 2023.

Noble gas transport through geologic media has important applications in the characterization of underground nuclear explosions (UNEs). Noble gases produced by nuclear fission are hard to contain and tend to migrate to the surface where they can be detected via atmospheric monitoring, making them key components for compliance monitoring for the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty (CTBT).

Highlighted Works

Articles

Neil, C. W., Boukhalfa, H., Xu, H., Ware, S. D., Ortiz, J., Avendaño, S., Harp, D. R., Broome, S., Hjelm, R. P., Brug, W. P., & Stauffer, P. H. (2022). Gas diffusion through variably-water-saturated zeolitic tuff: Implications for transport following a subsurface nuclear event. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 250, 106905.

Page Article

Bourret, S. M., Kwicklis, E. M., Harp, D. R., Ortiz, J. P., & Stauffer, P. H. (2020). Beyond Barnwell: Applying lessons learned from the Barnwell site to other historic underground nuclear tests at Pahute Mesa to understand radioactive gas-seepage observations. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 222, 106297.

Page Article

Poster

Ortiz, J. P. (2018). A reduced-order model to assist real-time predictions of gas transport in unsaturated fractured media. InterPore 10th Annual Meeting.

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