Understanding the behaviour of gas in a geological disposal facility: modelling coupled processes and key features at different scales

Abstract

AbstractUnderstanding the behaviour of gas in a geological disposal facility (GDF) is an essential component of analysing the facility evolution and long-term (post-closure) safety performance. This includes the impacts of gas on the physico-chemical evolution of the GDF, and the release and migration of radionuclides in water and gas.The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Radioactive Waste Management Directorate is participating in the EC FORGE (fate of repository gases) project (www.forgeproject.org) and conducting independent research. Key research themes are modelling the impacts of different host rocks on facility evolution including coupled processes, and upscaling the effects of small scale features that can significantly influence the evolution of the whole facility.Recent code developments have enabled coupled processes to be represented more realistically in models. This has significantly advanced understanding of facility evolution, as discussed in this paper, and will improve future assessment models. There is potential to further improve approaches to upscaling the effects of small scale features on strongly coupled processes, within the context of the EC FORGE project.