Mineral stability, brine development and rock-fluid reaction at repository-relevant temperatures (<i>T</i> < 200 °C) in the potential host rock rock salt

Abstract

Abstract. For a repository of heat generating radioactive waste, the thermal behaviour of the host rock and the impact of temperature increase on rock properties is of general importance. In the German Site Selection Act (2017), the maximum temperature of the container surface is preliminarily limited to 100 ∘C but this limit might change in the future based on scientific and technological findings. Rock salt, as one of the possible host rocks, consists predominantly of halite with varying amounts of accessory minerals (e.g., Hudec and Jackson, 2007); however, some lithological units within a salt deposit, e.g. potash seams, show a different mineralogical composition with high amounts of potash minerals. Most of them are not very stable regarding temperature resistance and stress, contain water in the crystal lattice, and therefore react sensitively to changes in the environment. The melting point of most evaporated minerals is higher than the expected temperatures in a repository but dehydration and partial melting might occur at relevant temperatures, depending on the confining pressure. For example, the temperature of dehydration of carnallite is ca. 80 ∘C at 0.1 MPa confining pressure but increases to ca. 145 ∘C at 10 MPa confining pressure (Kern and Franke, 1986). The melting point of carnallite increases from ca. 145∘C/8MPa to ca. 167∘C/24MPa, which corresponds to a depth of ca. 1000 m. Depending on the mineral paragenesis and composition of saline solutions, different minerals develop with increasing temperature. For instance, a salt rock with an initial composition of kieserite + kainite + carnallite + solution R (25 ∘C) reacts solely to kieserite and solution R, when the temperature increases to 78 ∘C. A rock with a composition of kieserite + carnallite + bischofite + solution Z (25 ∘C) reacts to kieserite + carnallite from 25 to 50 ∘C, from 50 to 73 ∘C only kieserite is stable, and at temperatures >73 ∘C kieserite and bischofite develop (Usdowski and Dietzel, 1998). For the construction of an underground repository, the mineralogical composition of the host rocks and fluids have to be evaluated carefully and play an important role for the site selection and design of the underground facility.