A preliminary assessment of mineralogical criteria on the utility of argillaceous rocks and minerals for high-level radioactive waste disposal

Technical Report · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6814958· OSTI ID:6814958

Kopp, O. C.

The purpose of this study was to review available data concerning the properties reported for shales and clay-rich rocks and clay minerals to determine whether such information could be instrumental in selecting the more favorable assemblages of clays for high-level waste repository purposes. Literature searches were conducted for reports dealing with the properties of these argillaceous materials. The properties that were obtained from appropriate references were recorded in an Appleworks Database. The data are divided into five major goups: chemical properties, general physical properties, hydrologic properties, mechanical properties, and thermal properties. The Database includes such information as the type of material, formation name, geological age, location, depth, test conditions, results, and reference(s). In general, noticeable correlations were not apparent when mineralogical information was compared with various properties using plots of the data for each individual property. The best correlations were obtained for chemical and certain mechanical and hydrologic properties. Thermal properties appear to be least influenced by clay mineral composition. An important reason for the inability to correlate mineralogical compositions with most properties was the lack of uniformity of test methods, test conditions, and even the units used for reporting the final data. There was very limited information concerning the mineralogical compositions of most of the shales tested. The potential exists for identifying the more suitable formations (or specific horizons within formations) using mineralogical data; however, in order to make such selections, it will be necessary to collect future data using standardized test methods and conditions. The mineralogical compositions of the samples tested need to be determined quantitatively rather than qualitatively.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6814958
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-9979; ON: DE87006027
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360603* -- Materials-- Properties
58 GEOSCIENCES
580300 -- Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics-- (-1989)
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
CLAYS
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
HYDROLOGY
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SHALES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES