Approach to the fracture hydrology at Stripa: preliminary results

Conference · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1979

OSTI ID:6184160

Gale, J E; Witherspoon, P A

There are two main problems associated with the concept of geologic storage of radioactive waste in fractured crystalline rock: (1) the thermo-mechanical effects of the heat generated by the waste, and (2) the potential for transport of radioactive materials by the groundwater system. In both problems, fractures play a dominant role. An assessment of the hydraulic and mechanical characteristics of fractued rock requires a careful series of laboratory and field investigations. The complexity of the problem is illustrated by the field studies in a fractured granite that are currently underway in an abandoned iron-ore mine at Stripa, Sweden. Much information is being gathered from an extensive series of boreholes and fracture maps. The approach being taken to integrate these data into an analysis of the fracture hydrology is reviewed and preliminary results from the hydrology program are presented. 13 figures.

• Research Organization: Waterloo Univ., Ontario (Canada). Dept. of Earth Sciences; California Univ., Berkeley (USA). Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6184160
• Report Number(s): LBL-7079; SAC-15; CONF-7809154-1; TRN: 79-014956
• Resource Relation: Conference: OECD seminar on in situ heating experiments in geological formations, Ludvika, Sweden, Sep 1978
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
GEOLOGIC FISSURES
PERMEABILITY
GRANITES
FRACTURES
HYDROLOGY
FAILURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
IGNEOUS ROCKS
ROCKS
580300* - Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics- (-1989)
052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage