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Title: Computer simulation of radionuclide transport through thermal convection of groundwater from borehole repositories

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10114732· OSTI ID:10114732
;  [1]
  1. Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation). Inst. of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry

Results are presented of numerical modeling of radionuclide transport by thermal convection of groundwater from a single well repository of high level waste. Because the problem possesses cylindrical symmetry, the process is described by a system of 2-D transient equations for momentum, convective heat transfer and convective mass transfer (taking into account hydrodynamic dispersion and radionuclide decay). Results of computer simulations for a selected range of system parameters were generalized by approximating analytical relationship, which can be used for safety assessment of a radioactive waste repository. The problem of the reciprocal relationship between thermoconvective transport processes and well spacing in an underground repository with a regularly spaced set of the waste-loaded wells is examined using a two-well model as an example. In this case, the transport problem becomes three-dimensional. A solution to this problem was obtained using a special system of orthogonal coordinates, which simplifies the computational algorithm and enhances accuracy. It is shown that thermoconvective transport of radionuclides in the vicinity of each well can be considered to be independent at well separations of the order of 100 m when reasonable values of other repository parameters are assumed.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
10114732
Report Number(s):
LBL-36385; ON: DE95006722; IN: RAC-3; TRN: AHC29507%%93
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Sep 1993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English