Jove-Colon, Carlos; Sugita, Yutaka; Ohno, Hirokazu; Beese, Steffen; Pan, Pengzhi; Kim, Minseop; Lee, Changsoo; Lopez, Carlos M.; Liang, Suu Y.
Bentonite-based engineered barrier system (EBS) is a key component of many repository designs for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Given the complexity and interaction of the phenomena affecting the barrier system, coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) numerical analyses are a potentially useful tool for a better understanding of their behaviour. In this context, a Task (the Horonobe EBS experiment) was undertaken to study, using numerical analyses, the thermo-hydro-mechanical (and thermo-hydro) interactions in bentonite based engineered barriers within the international cooperative project DECOVALEX 2023. One full-scale in-situ experiment and four laboratory experiments, largely complementary, were selected for modelling. The Horonobe EBS experiment is a temperature-controlled non-isothermal experiment combined with artificial groundwater injection. The Horonobe EBS experiment consists of the heating and cooling phases. Six research teams performed the THM or TH (depended on research team approach) numerical analyses using a variety of computer codes, formulations and constitutive laws. For each experiment, the basic features of the analyses are described and the comparison between calculations and laboratory experiments and field observations are presented and discussed.
Salt formations have long been recognized as a highly favorable host rock for the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in deep geological repositories. Their unique properties, including exceptional impermeability, self-healing capabilities, and thermal conductivity, make them a reliable natural barrier for the deep disposal of radioactive waste. This report focuses on the development and application of a methodology for assessing the integrity and per formance of the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) within salt-based repositories, a critical component of the multi-barrier system ensuring safe radioactive waste disposal.
The Disposal Research & Development (Disposal R&D) Campaign of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Office of Spent Fuel & High-Level Waste Disposition is conducting research and development (R&D) on geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level nuclear waste (HLW). A high priority for Disposal R&D is disposal system modeling (Sassani et al. 2023). The Geologic Disposal Safety Assessment (GDSA) work package is charged with developing a disposal system modeling and analysis capability for evaluating generic disposal system performance for nuclear waste in geologic media.
The Engineered Barrier System (EBS) plays an important role in ensuring the long-term safety and containment of high-level waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in deep geological repositories in salt formation. As part of a multi-barrier system, the EBS works alongside the natural barrier, which is the salt formation itself and the technical barrier comprising the disposal casks. The primary function of the EBS is to maintain containment during a defined period until the backfill used in the repository made of crushed salt, develops its sealing capacity through compaction. Over the time, the backfill eventually compacts to a state of low porosity and permeability, acting as a long-term seal. However, until this process is complete, the EBS must retain its structural and functional integrity. Regulatory guidelines in Germany currently require the EBS to remain effective for up to next ice age, that is expected in 50,000 years. The significant hydro-geological and topographic changes expected during an ice age could make it impossible to accurately predict the hydro-chemical conditions within the repository system at that time. In response to these challenges, BGE TECHNOLOGY GmbH (BGE TEC) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) have jointly developed a comprehensive methodology for the design and safety assessment of engineered barrier systems within the scope of the RANGERS project. This methodology is tailored for repositories in salt formations. The developed methodology provides a structured approach for designing and assessing the performance of the EBS in salt-based repositories. It begins with defining a sealing concept based on the geological characteristics of the selected site and the overall repository design. The entire repository system, comprising the geological site, repository infrastructure, and EBS, is then subjected to a Features, Events, and Processes (FEP) analysis, focusing solely on those FEPs that affect the EBS. The derived FEPs help identify the loads and stresses acting on the EBS, which serve as the foundation for conducting an integrity assessment. This analysis helps predict the EBS’s evolution and performance over the regulatory time frame, feeding into integrated performance assessment simulations.
Jove-Colon, Carlos; Ho, Tuan A.; Lopez, Carlos M.; Rutqvist, Jonny; Guglielmi, Yves; Hu, Mengsu; Sasaki, Tsubasa; Yoon, Sangcheol; Steefel, Carl I.; Tournassat, Christophe; Mital, Utkarsh; Luu, Keurfon; Sauer, Kirsten B.; Caporuscio, Florie A.; Rock, Marlena J.; Zandanel, Amber E.; Zavarin, Mavrik; Wolery, Thomas J.; Chang, Elliot; Han, Sol-Chan; Wainwright, Haruko; Greathouse, Jeffery A.
This report represents the milestone deliverable M2SF-23SN010301072 “Evaluation of Nuclear Spent Fuel Disposal in Clay-Bearing Rock - Process Model Development and Experimental Studies” The report provides a status update of FY23 activities for the work package Argillite Disposal work packages for the DOE-NE Spent Fuel Waste Form Science and Technology (SFWST) Program. Clay-rich geological media (often referred as shale or argillite) are among the most abundant type of sedimentary rock near the Earth’s surface. Argillaceous rock formations have the following advantageous attributes for deep geological nuclear waste disposal: widespread geologic occurrence, found in stable geologic settings, low permeability, self-sealing properties, low effective diffusion coefficient, high sorption capacity, and have the appropriate depth and thickness to host nuclear waste repository concepts. The DOE R&D program under the Spent Fuel Waste Science Technology (SFWST) campaign has made key progress (through experiment, modeling, and testing) in the study of chemical and physical phenomena that could impact the long-term safety assessment of heat-generating nuclear waste disposition in clay/shale/argillaceous rock. International collaboration activities comprising field-scale heater tests, field data monitoring, and laboratory-scale experiments provide key information on changes to the engineered barrier system (EBS) material exposed high thermal loads. Moreover, consideration of direct disposal of large capacity dual-purpose canisters (DPCs) as part of the back-end SNF waste disposition strategy has generated interest in improving our understanding of the effects of elevated temperatures on the engineered barrier system (EBS) design concepts. Chemical and structural analyses of sampled bentonite material from laboratory tests at elevated temperatures are key to the characterization of thermal effects affecting bentonite clay barrier performance. The knowledge provided by these experiments is crucial to constrain the extent of sacrificial zones in the EBS design during the thermal period. Thermal, hydrologic, mechanical, and chemical (THMC) data collected from heater tests and laboratory experiments have been used in the development, validation, and calibration of THMC simulators to model near-field coupled processes. This information leads to the development of simulation approaches to assess issues on coupled processes involving porous media flow, transport, geomechanical phenomena, chemical interactions with barrier/geologic materials, and the development of EBS concepts. These lines of knowledge are central to the design of deep geological backfilled repository concepts where temperature plays a key role in the EBS behavior, potential interactions with host rock, and long-term performance in the safety assessment.
Machine learning methodologies can provide insight into Brønsted-Guggenheim-Scatchard specific ion interaction theory (SIT) parameter values where experimental data availability may be limited. This study develops and executes machine learning frameworks to model the SIT interaction coefficient, ε. Key findings include successful estimations of ε via artificial neural networks using clustering and value prediction approaches. Applicability to other chemical parameters is also assessed briefly. Models developed here provide support for a use-case of machine learning in geologic nuclear waste disposal research applications, namely in predictions of chemical behaviors of high ionic strength solutions (i.e., subsurface brines).
The capability of a 1-D PFLOTRAN model to simulate the S1-3 bentonite saturation experiment has been demonstrated and validated against experimental data. Work remains to be done to refine 1-D PFLOTRAN simulations of the experiment S1-4 which include evaluation of parameter sensitivities on the prediction of material saturation and relative permeabilities. This and further testing of PFLOTRAN capabilities will be done as part of DECOVALEX 2023 Task D contributions by the SNL team in the coming months.
Sandia National Laboratories continued evaluation of the total system performance assessment (TSPA) for License Application (LA) computing systems for the previously considered Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). This was done to maintain the operational readiness of the computing infrastructure (computer hardware and software) and knowledge capability for total system performance assessment) type analysis, as directed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), DOE 2010. The FY21 task included continued operation of the cluster; maintenance of the TSPA-LA models (with GoldSim 9.60.300); continued assessment of the status of the Infiltration Model; (a process model that feeds the TSP -LA) and preliminary assessments of the Unsaturated Zone Flow Model and the Saturated Zone Flow and Transport Model Abstraction (process models that feed the TSPA-LA). The 2014 cluster and supporting software systems are currently fully operational to support TSPA-LA type analyses.
The DOE R&D program under the Spent Fuel Waste Science Technology (SFWST) campaign has made key progress in modeling and experimental approaches towards the characterization of chemical and physical phenomena that could impact the long-term safety assessment of heatgenerating nuclear waste disposition in deep-seated clay/shale/argillaceous rock. International collaboration activities such as heater tests, continuous field data monitoring, and postmortem analysis of samples recovered from these have elucidated key information regarding changes in the engineered barrier system (EBS) material exposed to years of thermal loads. Chemical and structural analyses of sampled bentonite material from such tests as well as experiments conducted on these are key to the characterization of thermal effects affecting bentonite clay barrier performance and the extent of sacrificial zones in the EBS during the thermal period. Thermal, hydrologic, and chemical data collected from heater tests and laboratory experiments has been used in the development, validation, and calibration of THMC simulators to model near-field coupled processes. This information leads to the development of simulation approaches (e.g., continuum and discrete) to tackle issues related to flow and transport at various scales of the host-rock, its interactions with barrier materials, and EBS design concept.
This interim report is an update of ongoing experimental and modeling work on bentonite material described in Jové Colón et al. (2019, 2020) from past international collaboration activities. As noted in Jové Colón et al. (2020), work on international repository science activities such as FEBEX-DP and DECOVALEX19 is either no longer continuing by the international partners. Nevertheless, research activities on the collected sample materials and field data are still ongoing. Descriptions of these underground research laboratory (URL) R&D activities are described elsewhere (Birkholzer et al. 2019; Jové Colón et al. 2020) but will be explained here when needed. The current reports recent reactive-transport modeling on the leaching of sedimentary rock.
Disposal of large, heat-generating waste packages containing the equivalent of 21 pressurized water reactor (PWR) assemblies or more is among the disposal concepts under investigation for a future repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the United States. Without a long (>200 years) surface storage period, disposal of 21-PWR or larger waste packages (especially if they contain high-burnup fuel) would result in in-drift and near-field temperatures considerably higher than considered in previous generic reference cases that assume either 4-PWR or 12-PWR waste packages (Jové Colón et al. 2014; Mariner et al. 2015; 2017). Sevougian et al. (2019c) identified high-temperature process understanding as a key research and development (R&D) area for the Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) Campaign. A two-day workshop in February 2020 brought together campaign scientists with expertise in geology, geochemistry, geomechanics, engineered barriers, waste forms, and corrosion processes to begin integrated development of a high-temperature reference case for disposal of SNF in a mined repository in a shale host rock. Building on the progress made in the workshop, the study team further explored the concepts and processes needed to form the basis for a high-temperature shale repository reference case. The results are described in this report and summarized..
