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Performance Assessment of Geological Disposal of High-level Radioactive Waste in a Plastic Clay formation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Jan Marivoet ,
Xavier Sillen ,
Dirk Mallants  and
Peter De Preter
Jan Marivoet
Affiliation:
Waste & Disposal Dept., SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium
Xavier Sillen
Affiliation:
Waste & Disposal Dept., SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium
Dirk Mallants
Affiliation:
Waste & Disposal Dept., SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium
Peter De Preter
Affiliation:
NIRAS/ONDRAF, Kunstlaan 12, 1210 Brussels, Belgium Waste & Disposal Dept., SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium
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Abstract

In Belgium the possibilities to dispose of high-level waste in the plastic Boom Clay formation has been studied since 1975. Consequently many results of the site characterisation programme are already available. Various performance assessments have been carried out dealing with the disposal of high-level waste arising from reprocessing and with direct disposal of spent fuel. The performance assessment consists of two main steps: scenario development and consequence analyses. The scenario analysis is based on a catalogue of features, events and processes (FEPs) having the potential to influence the behaviour of the repository system. Two main groups of scenarios are distinguished. The normal evolution scenario, including a number of variants, treats the FEPs that are fairly sure to take place. Altered evolution scenarios focus on FEPs having a probability of occurrence lower than one but that might influence the performance of the repository system. For the impact analyses, a robust concept approach was introduced, which focused the analyses on a limited number of well-characterised barriers and processes. The impact analyses are complemented with sensitivity and uncertainty analyses based on deterministic and probabilistic approaches.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 713: Symposium JJ – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXV , 2002 , JJ4.4
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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