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Characterisation of Granite Fractures From the In-Situ FEBEX Experiment (Grimsel, Switzerland): ossible Effects on Bentonite Colloid and Radionuclide Transport

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Ursula Alonso ,
Tiziana Missana ,
Miguel Garcia-Gutierrez ,
Alessandro Patelli ,
Nairoby Albarran ,
Trinidad Lopez-Torrubia ,
Daniele Ceccato  and
Valentino Rigato
Ursula Alonso
Affiliation:
CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense, 22 Madrid, 28040Spain
Tiziana Missana
Affiliation:
CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense, 22 Madrid, 28040Spain
Miguel Garcia-Gutierrez
Affiliation:
CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense, 22 Madrid, 28040Spain
Alessandro Patelli
Affiliation:
CIVEN, Via delle Industrie 5, Venezia-Marghera, 30175Italy
Nairoby Albarran
Affiliation:
CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense, 22 Madrid, 28040Spain
Trinidad Lopez-Torrubia
Affiliation:
AITEMIN, Alenza 1, Madrid, Spain
Daniele Ceccato
Affiliation:
Universita di Padova, Dip. di Fisica “G. Galilei”, via F. Marzolo 8, Padova 35131, Italy LNL-INFN, Viale dell'Universita 2, Legnaro-Padova, I-35020Italy
Valentino Rigato
Affiliation:
LNL-INFN, Viale dell'Universita 2, Legnaro-Padova, I-35020Italy
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Abstract

The FEBEX in-situ experiment, installed in 1997 at the Grimsel Test Site (GTS, Switzerland) 400 m depth under the Swiss Alps, simulates a high level radioactive waste repository (HLWR) emplaced in granite. Its initial aim was to study the performance of a bentonite engineered barrier but recently, two new boreholes were drilled in the granite to study the possible bentonite colloid formation and their migration in the granite.

This study presents the characterization performed, at the micrometer scale, of the threemain water conductive fractures that were identified on the granite cores extracted from the newboreholes. These fractures are possible pathways for bentonite colloid transport (or retention),may be source of natural colloids and may condition colloid stability. The nuclear ion beamtechniques µ-Particle X-Ray Emission (µPIXE) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry(RBS) were applied for visualizing and quantifying the elemental composition of the fracturessurface and of the surrounding micro-fractures, as support of the bentonite colloid analyses.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1193: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXXIII , 2009 , 561
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

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