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The Belgian Demonstration Programme for the Disposal of High-Level and Long-Lived Radioactive Waste

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Bernier Frédéric ,
Demarche Marc  and
Bel Johan
Bernier Frédéric
Affiliation:
ESV EURIDICE GIE – European Underground Research Infrastructure for Disposal of Nuclear Waste in Clay Environment, Boeretang 200, BE-2400 Mol
Demarche Marc
Affiliation:
ESV EURIDICE GIE – European Underground Research Infrastructure for Disposal of Nuclear Waste in Clay Environment, Boeretang 200, BE-2400 Mol
Bel Johan
Affiliation:
NIRAS/ONDRAF – Belgian agency for radioactive waste and enriched fissile materials, Avenue des arts, 14, BE-210 Bruxelles
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Abstract

The EIG EURIDICE is responsible for performing large-scale tests, technical demonstrations and experiments so as to assess the feasibility of a final disposal of vitrified radioactive waste in deep clay layers. This programme is part of the Belgian Research and Development programme managed by ONDRAF/NIRAS. The research infrastructure includes the Underground Research Facilities HADES (URF HADES) in the Boom Clay geological formation and surface facilities. The achievements of the demonstration programme are the demonstration of the construction of shafts and galleries at industrial scale, the characterisation of the hydro-mechanical response of the host rock, and the “OPHELIE mock-up” a large scale hydration test under thermal load of pre-fabricated bentonite blocks. The future works will consist mainly in the realisation of the “PRACLAY experiments” including a large scale heater test. The large scale heater test has to demonstrate that Boom Clay is suitable, in terms of performance of the disposal system, to undergo the thermal load induced by the vitrified waste. The combined effect of the excavation and the thermal load will be investigated. A long term (more than 10 years) large scale heater test would be representative of the most penalizing conditions that could be encountered in the real disposal. The results of this test will constitute an important input for the Safety and Feasibility Cases 1 (SFC-1, 2013) and 2 (SFC-2, 2020).

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 932: Symposium – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXIX , 2006 , 125.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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References

REFERENCES

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