A geochemical data management system for radioactive waste repository feasibility investigations

Abstract

Abstract The geochemistry and hydrogeochemistry of the ground is a prime influence in determining the suitability of a site for the underground storage of radioactive waste. Geochemical testing is carried out during and after drilling of investigation boreholes to determine the nature of the groundwater regime and the connectivity between the repository and the biosphere. aim of this paper is to describe a data management system for the entry, validation and reporting of geochemical testing using dBase IV version 1.5 running under MS-DOS 5.0 on an IBMcompatible 486DX personal computer. Data entry is in four phases for sample register details, tracer sample analyses, hydrochemical sample inventory details and hydrochemical sample analyses. Each record is committed on entry and then validated by a senior chemist. A six-stage validation scale was developed to track the progress of the analysis for individual determinands. Results are reported in full for each sample and as a series of summary sheets for rapid assessment. The summaries display the QA status of each analysis from ‘not required’ through ‘pending’ to ‘fully documented procedures’. Output is to a laser printer and a series of Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet files for further analysis and interpretation. Reporting is both interim on a daily and fortnightly basis during testing and final upon completion of testing. The conflicting requirements of security, quality assurance, ease of use and a rapidly evolving specification mean that communication between geochemists and the database programmer have to be effective and response times minimized.