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IMSIER t> flux of condensed water through fractures, fracture flow carried this water away before matrix imbibition could detectably increase matrix moisture content below the boiling zone. Numerical modeling indicated that the re-wetting of the dried-out zone was dominated by the binary diffusion of water vapor through fractures. Saturation gradients in the rock matrix resulted in relative numidity gradients which drove water vapor (primarily along fractures) back to the driedout zone where it condensed along the fracture walls and was imbibed by the matrix.

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This paper presents selected results obtained during the 301 day duration of the Prototype Engineered Barrier System Field Test (PEBSFT) performed in G-Tunnel within the Nevada Test Site. The test described is a precursor to the Engineered Barrier Systems Field Tests (EBSFT) planned forlhe Exploratory Shaft Facility in Yucca Mountain. The EBSFT will consist of in situ tests of the geohydrologic and geochemical environment in the near field (within a few meters) of heaters emplaced in welded tuff to simulate the thermal effects of waste packages. The paper discusses the evolution of hydrothermal behavior during the prototype test, including rock temperatures, changes in rock moisture content, air permeability of fractures, and gas-phase humidity in the heater borehole.