Abstract
AbstractHeat-generating waste provides a number of additional technical challenges over and above those associated with the disposal of ILW. A priority area of work for Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) concerns the effect of heat on the engineered barrier system, and how this may be mitigated through the management of heat (thermal dimensioning) in a UK Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). The objective of thermal dimensioning is to provide a strategy to enable acceptable waste package loading and spatial configurations of the packages to be determined in order to enable high-heat generating waste to be successfully disposed in a GDF. An early focus of the work has been to develop a thermal modelling tool to support analyses of different combinations of package assumptions and other GDF factors, such as spacing of those packages, to assess the compliance with thermal limits. The approach has a capability to investigate quickly and efficiently the implications of a wide range of disposal concepts for the storage of spent fuel/HLW and the dimensions of a GDF. This study describes the approach taken to undertaking this work, which has included a robust appraisal of the key data (and the associated uncertainty); recent thermal dimensioning analysis has been performed to identify constraints on those disposal concepts.
Highlights
THE disposal of high-heat-generating wastes in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) creates a number of technical questions that need to be addressed in order that a safe disposal solution can be developed
One important aspect of Project Ankhiale is to develop further the understanding of constraints placed on various Engineered Barrier System (EBS) materials by the disposal of high-heat generating waste
The purpose of the Thermal Dimensioning Tool (TDT) model is to explore the parameter space associated with the thermal calculations for each disposal concept and for a variety of high-heat-generating waste types, in order to discover the key parameters that affect the temperature of the buffer material in the GDF and how they affect the temperature evolution of the EBS
Summary
THE disposal of high-heat-generating wastes in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) creates a number of technical questions that need to be addressed in order that a safe disposal solution can be developed. One important aspect of Project Ankhiale is to develop further the understanding of constraints placed on various Engineered Barrier System (EBS) materials by the disposal of high-heat generating waste. One such constraint is to ensure the temperature of the buffer material is within limits such that its safety functions are not unduly impaired. Concept A1 describes the emplacement of copper disposal containers in vertical deposition holes. A pelleted bentonite backfill is assumed, and a cementitious tunnel lining may be specified It is assumed this is applicable to a lower-strength sedimentary host rock. Concept A3 describes the emplacement of disposal containers vertically in a mined borehole matrix of deposition holes.
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