Possible Effect of Pressure Solution on the Movement of a Canister in the Buffer of Geological Disposal System

摘要

One of the major concepts of the geological disposal of high level radioactive waste is to enclose a metallic container with bentonite buffer which is considered to be impermeable and chemically stable. Since the average density of the container is around 6 to 7 and very heavy compared to bentonite, the scenario of container sinking has been evaluated because excess sinking makes short the pathway of nuclide migration in the bentonite and is detrimental to the safety of the disposal system. Previous considerations on container sinking have been made from the viewpoint of mechanical deformation of the bentonite. In this paper, a chemical deformation process is presented as another mechanism of container sinking, which has not been previously considered for the container sinking in the field of radioactive waste disposal. The chemical deformation mentioned in this paper is the deformation through the process of pressure solution of minerals constituting the buffer, transportation by diffusion and precipitation. That such chemical deformation is a ubiquitous phenomenon occurring in various scales in the crust of the earth will be shown through the review of previous works. Then, some future research topics will be suggested which would be required in order to evaluate the container sinking in the safety case for radioactive waste disposal.