68th Canadian Geotechnical Conference and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference

THERMAL PROPERTY TESTING OF AN ENGINEERED BARRIER FOR USE IN A DEEP GEOLOGICAL REPOSITORY

Session: Rock Mechanics and Engineering Geology I / Mécanique des roches et ingénierie géologique I

Pedram Abootalebi, Queen's University (Canada)
Gregory Siemens, RMC (Canada)

There are over 2.5 million bundles of used nuclear fuel in Canada and upwards of an additional 2 million bundles anticipated to be generated in the future. Canada, and all countries around the world that have taken a decision on long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel, has decided on central storage within a deep geological repository. A deep geological repository provides centralized containment and isolation of the used nuclear fuel hundreds of meters below ground. Spent nuclear fuel bundles are to be placed at depth within containers and surrounded by engineered barriers. A key component of the performance of a repository is the capability of the engineered barriers to transfer the thermal energy to the surrounding geosphere. In this paper thermal property testing of a high density bentonite material is presented. The challenges associated with high density specimen preparation are highlighted and preliminary results are reported.