Callovo–Oxfordian claystone; Deep geological disposal; High-level radioactive waste; Thermo-hydro-mechanical modeling; Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology; Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Abstract :
[en] This study investigates the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behavior of argillaceous formations, particularly the Callovo–Oxfordian (COx) claystone, over extended timescales to evaluate the long-term safety of radioactive waste repositories. Numerical simulations were performed as part of a benchmark exercise to study the response of the COx formation under heating scenarios representative of high-level radioactive waste disposal. Six modeling teams from various institutions participated in this benchmark, using various numerical codes, providing valuable information on the evolution of temperature, pore water pressure, and stresses within the repository environment, particularly around the disposal cells. The results highlight that the COx formation exhibits significant thermal pressurization and stress relaxation because of its low permeability, whereas the excavation damaged zone (EDZ) remains confined to the near field and does not extend significantly under the thermal load considered. The study demonstrates the robustness of numerical tools for repository safety assessments and emphasizes the importance of validated THM formulations to ensure long-term containment of radioactive waste.
Disciplines :
Civil engineering
Author, co-author :
Simo, Eric ; Geotechnical Institute, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany ; BGE TECHNOLOGY GmbH, Peine, Germany
de Lesquen, Christophe; ANDRA, Châtenay-Malabry, France
Vu, Minh-Ngoc; ANDRA, Châtenay-Malabry, France
Raude, Simon; EDF R & D, Palaiseau, France
El Tabbal, Ginger; EDF R & D, Palaiseau, France
Narkuniene, Asta; Lithuanian Energy Institute, Kaunas, Lithuania
Poskas, Povilas; Lithuanian Energy Institute, Kaunas, Lithuania
Collin, Frédéric ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département ArGEnCo
Abhishek, Rawat; Urban and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
Song, Hangbiao ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Urban and Environmental Engineering
Gens, Antonio; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Song, Fei; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain ; School of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Mánica, Miguel; Institute of Engineering, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Coyoacán, Mexico
Nagel, Thomas; Geotechnical Institute, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany ; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany ; Freiberg Center for Water Research (ZeWaF), TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany
Buchwald, Jörg; Geotechnical Institute, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany ; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
H2020 - 847593 - EURAD - European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management
Funders :
EU - European Union TUBAF - Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg
Funding text :
The project leading to this work has received funding from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 847593. This work was supported by the German Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) as part of the project PIONIER [grant number: 45189414]. JB thanks BGE for funding the OpenWorkFlow project under research contract no. BGE STAFuE-21-05-Kle. TN acknowledges funding provided by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) under grant 03G0927B for the DigBen project and thank the Projekttr\u00E4ger J\u00FClich (PtJ) for support. The authors alone are responsible for the contents of this study. This paper describes objective technical results and analysis.
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