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Evolution of the Groundwater Chemistry Around a Nuclear Waste Repository.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

A. Haworth ,
S. M. Sharland ,
P. W. Tasker  and
C. J. Tweed
A. Haworth
Affiliation:
Theoretical Physics Division, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA U.K.
S. M. Sharland
Affiliation:
Theoretical Physics Division, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA U.K.
P. W. Tasker
Affiliation:
Theoretical Physics Division, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA U.K.
C. J. Tweed
Affiliation:
Theoretical Physics Division, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA U.K.
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Abstract

Perturbations to the natural chemistry of the geology surrounding a nuclear waste repository may affect the overall nuclide release rates through properties such as their solubilities and sorption characteristics. In this paper, we develop some of the necessary techniques to construct a detailed research model of the evolution of the groundwater under the influence of the backfill material. These techniques involve various extensions to the coupled ionic migration and chemical equilibria code, CHEQMATE and are used in the first stages of such a model. Although the design and location of a deep low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste repository have not yet been finalised in the U.K., we have considered a concrete backfill material embedded in a clay geology. Preliminary results suggest that over timescales of about a thousand years the natural buffering action of the clay against changes in pH has a significant effect on the scale of perturbation by the ingress of highly alkaline porewater. It seems likely therefore that this type of modelling will have considerable relevance to the safety assessment models.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 112: Symposium P – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XI , 1987 , 425
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1988

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References

1. Sharland, S.M., Tasker, P.W. and Tweed, C.J., 'The Coupling of Chemical and Transport Processes in Near-Field Modelling', presented at the Symposium for the Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management at the MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, 1–4th December 1986.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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