Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-4hvwz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-28T09:19:36.302Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Numerical Analysis of Radionuclide Migration Through Engineered Barriers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

S.C.H. Cheung ,
T. Chan  and
R.S. Lopez
S.C.H. Cheung
Affiliation:
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment, Pinawa, Manitoba, ROE ILO, Canada
T. Chan
Affiliation:
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment, Pinawa, Manitoba, ROE ILO, Canada
R.S. Lopez
Affiliation:
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment, Pinawa, Manitoba, ROE ILO, Canada
Get access

Abstract

A finite-element simulation has been performed to study the effects on the radionuclide flux, of the failure characteristics of a nuclear fuel disposal waste container, the buffer configuration, and the backfill properties, assuming an intact borehole rock wall. The results show that the total integrated flux from a failed container, through the buffer to a backfill with a diffusion coefficient and hydraulic conductivity higher than that of the buffer, increases as the radial buffer thickness increases, and the vertical buffer thickness decreases. The total flux can be estimated by a one-dimensional diffusion equation. If the backfill has the same diffusion coefficient and hydraulic conductivity as the buffer, the total flux will be reduced by approximately 30% compared with the situation when crushed rock or sand is used as backfill. For localized failure of the waste container, the total flux is mainly dependent on the failure location regardless of the area of the failed surface.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 26: Symposium D – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management VII , 1983 , 201
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Boulton, J. (Editor), “Management of Radioactive Fuel Wastes: The Canadian Disposal Program,” Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Report, AECL-6314 (1978).Google Scholar
2. Bird, G.W. and Cameron, D.J., “Vault Sealing Research for the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program,” Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Technical Record, * TR-145 (1982).Google Scholar
3. Cheung, S.C.H. and Chan, T., “Computer Simulation of Contaminant Transport,” Proceedings of the 1983 Summer Computer Simulation Conference, July, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Vol. I, pp. 470–475.Google Scholar
4. Kelsall, P.C., Case, J.B. and Chabannes, C.R., “A Preliminary Evaluation of the Rock Mass Disturbance Resulting from Shaft, Tunnel or Borehole Excavation,” Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation, ONWI-411, (1982).Google Scholar
5. Cheung, S.C.H. and Chan, T., “Parameter-Sensitivity Analysis of Near-Field Radionuclide Transport in Buffer Material and Rock For an Underground Nuclear Fuel Waste Vault,” Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Report, AECL-7801 (1983).Google Scholar
6. Polivka, R.M. and Wilson, E.L., “Finite Element Analysis of Nonlinear Heat Transfer Problems,” Report UCSESM 76-2, Department of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California, (1976).Google Scholar