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Direct Determination of Transport Parameters in Repository Materials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1992

J. L. Conca ,
M.J. Apted  and
R.C. Arthur
J. L. Conca
Affiliation:
Washington State University Tri-Cities, Richland, WA 99352
M.J. Apted
Affiliation:
Intera Sciences, 3609 South Wadsworth Blvd., Denver, CO 80235
R.C. Arthur
Affiliation:
Intera Sciences, 3609 South Wadsworth Blvd., Denver, CO 80235
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Abstract

A new flow technology has been developed that significantly decreases the time required to obtain transport data on saturated and unsaturated porous/fractured media. This technique is based on open-flow centrifugation and was developed to measure steady-state transport properties in most geologic materials within a matter of hours. Centripetal acceleration does not induce artificial effects in samples i.e., fracturing, collapse of interlayer structures, structural dewatering, compaction, chemical changes, etc., that occur with high-pressure methods. Using this technique, hydraulic conductivities (K) and diffusion coefficients (D) for compacted bentonite and four host rocks have been measured and re-interpreted. Based on these new data, K for compacted bentonite is less than 10−14 m/s, a factor of 1000 lower than previous pressure-gradient measurements, providing further assurance that radionuclide transport through bentonite backfill will be diffusion limited. Measured K for mudstone (1.8 × 10−12 m/s) indicates diffusion-limited far-field transport, while advective transport should occur for granite, basalt, and tuff, with expected matrix diffusion coefficients (correlated to measured D values) of 8.3 × 10−13 and 2.5 × 10−12 m2/s for fractured granite and basalt, respectively.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 294: Symposium V – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XVI , 1992 , 839
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

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References

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