Factors controlling rock–clay buffer interaction in a radioactive waste repository

Factors controlling rock–clay buffer interaction in a radioactive waste repository

The paper examines the interaction between host rock and a clay-based engineered barrier in the context of deep underground disposal of high-level radioactive waste. A large scale ‘‘in situ’’ heating test currently under way in the underground Grimsel Rock Laboratory (GRL; Switzerland) is adopted as a representative case for study. The main features of the behaviour of the rock/barrier system h...

Heat Conduction in Radioactive Waste Repository

The paper presents some numerical tests for the temperature development around nuclear waste packages stored in vaults. We deal with two simplified models. In the first of them, a single long cylinder of the diameter 1 m is considered. It is filled with radioactive waste and surrounded by rock. The second model presents a long cuboidal package stored in a vault. The computation was carried out ...

Probabilistic risk analysis for a high-level radioactive waste repository.

A probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) for a high-level radioactive waste repository is very important since it gives an estimate of its health impacts, allowing comparisons to be made with the health impacts of competing technologies. However, it is extremely difficult to develop a credible PRA for a specific repository site because of large uncertainties in future climate, hydrology, geological ...

Applying imprecise probabilities to radioactive waste repository siting

The siting of a radioactive waste repository involves a series of decisions that require an integrated analysis of conflicting ecological, economical and social objectives. While making sure that these criteria are met, the main goal of such decisions is to ensure that the population and the environment are safe. According to IAEA (2007), the siting process consists of site selection and charac...

Three - dimensional behaviour of a prototype radioactive 1 waste repository in fractured granitic rock