Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory: Final evaluation of the hydrogeochemical pre-investigations in relation to existing geologic and hydraulic conditions

摘要

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Management Company (SKB) is currently excavating the access tunnel to an underground experimental laboratory, the Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory, planned to be located some 500m below the Island of Aespoe which is located in the Simpevarp area, southeast Sweden. The construction of an underground laboratory forms part of the overall SKB strategy to test, not only the construction techniques for deep excavation, but also the various methods and protocols required to obtain a three-dimensional model of the geology and groundwater flow and chemistry, within a fractured crystalline bedrock similar to that envisaged for the final disposal of spent fuel. The hydrogeochemical activities described and interpreted in this report form part of the initial preinvestigation phase (from the surface to around 1000m depth) aimed at siting the laboratory, describing the natural hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical conditions in the bedrock and predicting the changes that will occur during excavation and construction of the laboratory. Hydrogeochemical interpretation has therefore been closely integrated with the hydrogeological investigations and other disciplines of major influence, in particular, bedrock geology and geochemistry and fracture mineralogy and chemistry. A large section of this report has been devoted to the detailed investigation of each individual zone hydraulically selected, tested and sampled for hydrogeochemical characterization. The data have been used to describe the chemistry and origin of the Aespoe groundwaters, models have been developed to illustrate groundwater mixing and standard geochemical modelling approaches have been employed to understand rock/water interaction processes. An attempt has been made to integrate the hydrogeochemical information with known geological and hydrogeological parameters to construct a conceptual groundwater flow model for the island. (Atomindex citation 24:037772)