Effects on groundwater flow of abandoned engineered structures for the safety assessment of the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository site at Forsmark, Sweden

Bockgård, Niclas; Marsic, Niko; Follin, Sven

Effects on groundwater flow of abandoned engineered structures for the safety assessment of the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository site at Forsmark, Sweden | Effets de structures d’ingénierie abandonnées réalisées pour l’évaluation de la sécurité du site de stockage de déchets radioactifs de haut niveau à Forsmark (Suède) sur les écoulements d’eau souterraine Efectos sobre flujo de agua subterránea de estructuras ingenieriles abandonadas para la evaluación de seguridad del sitio propuesto como repositorio de residuos nucleares de alta actividad en Forsmark, Suecia 瑞典福什马克所选的高强度核废料储藏地安全评价中废弃工程建筑物对地下水流的影响 Efeitos no fluxo de água subterrânea de estruturas de engenharia abandonadas para avaliação da segurança do depósito de resíduos nucleares de alta atividade em Forsmark, Suécia

2014

Bockgård, Niclas | Marsic, Niko | Follin, Sven

Effects on groundwater flow of abandoned engineered structures in relation to a potential geological repository for spent high-level nuclear fuel in fractured crystalline rock at the Forsmark site, Sweden, are studied by means of numerical modeling. The effects are analyzed by means of particle tracking, and transport-related performance measures are calculated. The impacts of abandoned, partially open repository tunnels are studied for two situations with different climate conditions: a “temperate” climate case with present-day boundary conditions, and a generic future “glacial” climate case with an ice sheet covering the repository. Then, the impact of abandoned open boreholes drilled through the repository is studied for present-day climate conditions. It is found that open repository tunnels and open boreholes can act as easy pathways from repository level to the ground surface; hence, they can attract a considerable proportion of particles released in the model at deposition hole positions within the repository. The changed flow field and flow paths cause some changes in the studied performance measures, i.e., increased flux at the deposition holes and decreased transport lengths and flow-related transport resistances. However, these effects are small and the transport resistance values are still high.

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