Mont Terri rock laboratory, 20 years of research: introduction, site characteristics and overview of experiments

Autor: Tim Vietor, Frédéric Bernier, Jens Birkholzer, Paul Bossart, Jean Michel Matray, Kristof Schuster, S. Dewonck, Juan Carlos Mayor, Christophe Bruggeman, Klaus Wieczorek, Takahiro Oyama, Mark Jensen, Martin Herfort, Naokata Shigeta, Peter Connolly, Masaaki Fukaya, Andreas Moeri
Přispěvatelé: Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Federal Office of Topography Swisstopo, Agence Nationale pour la Gestion des Déchets Radioactifs (ANDRA), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Japan Atomic Energy Agency, NAGRA (NAGRA), NAGRA
Jazyk: angličtina
Předmět:
Zdroj: Swiss Journal of Geosciences
Swiss Journal of Geosciences, Springer, 2017, 110 (1), pp.3-22. ⟨10.1007/s00015-016-0236-1⟩
ISSN: 1661-8726
1661-8734
DOI: 10.1007/s00015-016-0236-1
Popis: International audience; Abstract Geologic repositories for radioactive waste are designed as multi-barrier disposal systems that perform anumber of functions including the long-term isolation and containment of waste from the human environment, and theattenuation of radionuclides released to the subsurface. The rock laboratory at Mont Terri (canton Jura, Switzerland) inthe Opalinus Clay plays an important role in the development of such repositories. The experimental results gainedin the last 20 years are used to study the possible evolution of a repository and investigate processes closely related tothe safety functions of a repository hosted in a clay rock. At the same time, these experiments have increased our general knowledge of the complex behaviour of argillaceous formations in response to coupled hydrological, mechanical, thermal, chemical, and biological processes. After presenting the geological setting in and around the MontTerri rock laboratory and an overview of the mineralogy and key properties of the Opalinus Clay, we give a brief overview of the key experiments that are described in more detail in the following research papers to this Special Issueof the Swiss Journal of Geosciences. These experiments aim to characterise the Opalinus Clay and estimate safety relevant parameters, test procedures, and technologies for repository construction and waste emplacement. Otheraspects covered are: bentonite buffer emplacement, high pH concrete-clay interaction experiments, anaerobic steel corrosion with hydrogen formation, depletion of hydrogen by microbial activity, and finally, release of radionuclides into the bentonite buffer and the Opalinus Clay barrier. In the case of a spent fuel/high-level waste repository, thetime considered in performance assessment for repository evolution is generally 1 million years, starting with a transient phase over the first 10,000 years and followed by an equilibrium phase. Experiments dealing with initial conditions, construction, and waste emplacement do not require the extrapolation of their results over such longtimescales. However, experiments like radionuclide transport in the clay barrier have to rely on understanding longtermmechanistic processes together with estimating safety-relevant parameters. The research at Mont Terricarried out in the last 20 years provides valuable information on repository evolution and strong arguments for asound safety case for a repository in argillaceous formations.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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