Role of natural analogs in performance assessment of nuclear waste repositories
- Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analysis, San Antonio, TX (United States)
Mathematical models of the flow of water and transport of radionuclides in porous media will be used to assess the ability of deep geologic repositories to safely contain nuclear waste. These models must, in some sense, be validated to ensure that they adequately describe the physical processes occurring within the repository and its geologic setting. Inasmuch as the spatial and temporal scales over which these models must be applied in performance assessment are very large, validation of these models against laboratory and small-scale field experiments may be considered inadequate. Natural analogs may provide validation data that are representative of physico-chemical processes that occur over spatial and temporal scales as large or larger than those relevant to repository design. The authors discuss the manner in which natural analog data may be used to increase confidence in performance assessment models and conclude that, while these data may be suitable for testing the basic laws governing flow and transport, there is insufficient control of boundary and initial conditions and forcing functions to permit quantitative validation of complex, spatially distributed flow and transport models. The authors also express their opinion that, for collecting adequate data from natural analogs, resources will have to be devoted to them that are much larger than are devoted to them at present.
- Research Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States). Div. of Regulatory Applications; Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States). Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses
- OSTI ID:
- 146983
- Report Number(s):
- NUREG/CP--0147; CONF-9107285--; CNWRA--93-020; ON: TI96001409
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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