Study of migration of radioactive elements in clay layers during the burial of radioactive waste

Abstract

In 2015, Kazakhstan and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed an agreement to host a low-enriched uranium bank in Ust-Kamenogorsk. In 2019, several batches of enriched uranium were delivered to Kazakhstan and the bank began operations at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant. When transporting and disposing of radioactive elements, there is a need to reduce this possibility by limiting the transfer of uranium from underground storage to underground water. Therefore, in this article, a study was conducted on the migration of radioactive elements in clay layers during the disposal of radioactive uranium waste. There are now many underground repositories (for some types of radioactive waste). These systems are based on different underground container structures for different geological formations. For underground repositories located in geological environments where enriched uranium can migrate, other system components must reduce this possibility by preventing or limiting uranium mobility. This work investigates the process of convective transport of radioactive elements, in a moist soil layer through the installation of an additional natural clay barrier layer, the migration of radioactive elements during safe disposal, the effect of diffusion and convection through the solid waste layer.