System analysis dual-purpose repository — New results of temperature calculations

Abstract

As a possible design for a HLW (high activity-level waste) final repository the emplacement of reprocessing wastes and spent fuel elements of different types in a common repository is being studied in Germany within the framework of the project “System Analysis Dual-Purpose Repository”. The project involves a detailed planning of several variants as for instance the drift and/or borehole emplacement of both HLW and heat-generating intermediate activity-level waste (ILW) in different alternative configurations. Additionally to the planning of the surface and underground facilities, etc., also a safety analysis is performed for some of the considered variants. An important input to the safety analysis are the temperatures expected to arise at selected points and to given times within and in the immediate vicinity of the repository. Besides of this the detailed knowledge of the global temperature field to given times or the temperature history at significant points in the repository is of importance among others for general layout optimization purposes. This present paper presents and describes some new results of temperature calculations which include important effects, as for instance the detailed modelling of every heat source as a discrete one and of the 50 years lasting waste emplacement procedure.