Evaluation of Used Fuel Disposition in Clay-Bearing Rock

Technical Report · Fri Aug 29 04:00:00 EDT 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1164611· OSTI ID:1164611

Jové Colón, Carlos F. ^[1]; Weck, Philippe F. ^[1]; Sassani, David H. ^[1]; Zheng, Liange ^[2]; Rutqvist, Jonny ^[2]; Steefel, Carl I. ^[2]; Kim, Kunhwi ^[2]; Nakagawa, Seiji ^[2]; Houseworth, James ^[2]; Birkholzer, Jens ^[2]; Caporuscio, Florie A. ^[3]; Cheshire, Michael ^[3]; Rearick, Michael S. ^[3]; McCarney, Mary K. ^[3]; Zavarin, Mavrik ^[4]; Benedicto, Ana ^[4]; Kersting, Annie B. ^[4]; Sutton, Mark ^[4]; Jerden, James ^[5]; Frey, Kurt E. ^[5] ; Copple, Jacqueline M. ^[5]; Ebert, William ^[5]

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1. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
3. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
4. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
5. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Radioactive waste disposal in shale/argillite rock formations has been widely considered given its desirable isolation properties (low permeability), geochemically reduced conditions, anomalous groundwater pressures, and widespread geologic occurrence. Clay/shale rock formations are characterized by their high content of clay minerals such as smectites and illites where diffusive transport and chemisorption phenomena predominate. These, in addition to low permeability, are key attributes of shale to impede radionuclide mobility. Shale host-media has been comprehensively studied in international nuclear waste repository programs as part of underground research laboratories (URLs) programs in Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Japan. These investigations, in some cases a decade or more long, have produced a large but fundamental body of information spanning from site characterization data (geological, hydrogeological, geochemical, geomechanical) to controlled experiments on the engineered barrier system (EBS) (barrier clay and seals materials). Evaluation of nuclear waste disposal in shale formations in the USA was conducted in the late 70’s and mid 80’s. Most of these studies evaluated the potential for shale to host a nuclear waste repository but not at the programmatic level of URLs in international repository programs.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1164611
• Report Number(s): SAND--2014-18303R; 540780
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES