Geomechanical stability and integrity of waste disposal mines in salt structures

摘要

An analysis of the geotechnical stability and integrity is an important part of any safety assessment of a permanent repository for hazardous waste. Such an analysis is based on engineering geology studies of the site, laboratory and in-situ experiments, and geomechanical modelling.Central to the calculations for the safety analysis is the modelling of the host rock. The model should simulate as closely as possible the conditions and the behaviour of the rock (e.g. geology, stress conditions and constitutive laws).According to the multi-barrier concept, the geological setting of a nuclear waste repository must be able to contribute significantly to the isolation of the waste for a long period of time. The integrity of the geological barrier can be assessed only by geomechanical and hydrogeological modelling. Proper simplification of the geology and host rock properties in the model is the basis for a realistic calculation of stress distribution and excavation damage.