Assessment of Permian Zubers as the Host Rock for Deep Geological Disposal

Leszek Lankof

doi:10.3390/en13092239

Abstract

Together with renewable energy sources, nuclear power represents an important contribution to a sustainable energy mix in many countries and has an important impact on sustainable development. Nuclear energy production is also a source of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF), which require special concern. Disposal in deep geological formations is one of the solutions for the long-term management of HLW and SNF. It requires the development of a concept ensuring long-term safe isolation of waste and its validation applying the safety case methodology, which is a formal compilation of evidence, analyses and arguments that quantify and justify a claim that the repository will be safe. The results of laboratory testing of a potential repository host rock are an important component of the evidence that helps in the safety assessment of the deep geological disposal concept. This paper presents results of research focused on the physical, geomechanical and sorption properties of the Brown and Red Zuber unit rocks from the Kłodawa Salt Mine in Poland, which together with rock salt are an important component of Polish salt domes. The Brown and Red Zubers are typical evaporite lithostratigraphic units for the Polish part of the Zechstein Basin. They consist of halite (15–85%) and water-insoluble minerals, such as anhydrite, clay minerals, carbonates, quartz and feldspar, which occurred in varying proportions in the tested samples. The properties of the zuber rocks have been compared with those of rock salt, which is considered a suitable host rock for deep geological disposal of radioactive waste.

Highlights

The deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF), ensuring its long-term isolation from the environment and groundwater, relies on interdisciplinary scientific and technical issues
The majority of the HLW and SNF comes from controlled energy production during the process of nuclear fission of heavy elements in nuclear power plants
In connection with the plans for constructing a nuclear power plant in Poland, this paper reports on an investigation that was carried out regarding site selection for the deep geological disposal of SNF and HLW

Summary

Introduction

The deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF), ensuring its long-term isolation from the environment and groundwater, relies on interdisciplinary scientific and technical issues. The majority of the HLW and SNF comes from controlled energy production during the process of nuclear fission of heavy elements in nuclear power plants. Nuclear power represents a crucial contribution to the energy mix in many countries and has an important impact on sustainable development [1,2,3]. At the end of the last century, the share of electricity production from nuclear energy reached its maximum, which was about 17.9% in 1996 [4]. There are 443 nuclear power reactors in the world in 30 countries.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion