Approaches to confirmatory testing of a groundwater flow model for sparsely fractured crystalline rock, exemplified by data from the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository site at Forsmark, Sweden

Abstract

The Svensk Karnbranslehantering AB (SKB) has proposed the Forsmark site as a future repository for spent high-level nuclear fuel, involving disposal at about 470 m depth in sparsely fractured crystalline bedrock. An essential part of the completed inter-disciplinary site investigation was to develop an integrated account of the site and its regional setting, including the current state of the geosphere and the biosphere as well as natural processes affecting long-term evolution. First, this report recollects the integrated understanding and some key hydraulic characteristics of the crystalline bedrock at Forsmark along with a description of the flow model set-up and the methodology used for paleoclimatic flow modeling. Second, the protocol used for site-scale groundwater flow and solute transport modeling is demonstrated. In order to conduct a quantitative assessment of groundwater flow paths at Forsmark, the standard guide for groundwater flow modeling was elaborated on, to support both discrete and porous media flow approaches. In total, four independent types of data were used to confirm that the final groundwater flow model for the crystalline bedrock was representative of site conditions.