The Development of Sprayed Backfill Technology

2009 ◽  
Vol 1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pacovsky Jaroslav ◽  
Svoboda Jiří ◽  
Št'ástka Jiří

AbstractThe Centre of Experimental Geotechnics, CTU in Prague has recently launched a sprayed backfill technology development programme. Such technology will, most probably, be used during the future construction of deep underground radioactive waste repositories.The safe disposal of radioactive waste in deep underground geological repositories assumes the construction of a multi-barrier system the aim of which will be to eliminate the potential penetration of hazardous radionuclides into the biosphere over a time span of several hundred thousand years.With regard to the location in the repository in which the containers will be placed, bentonite will seal the space between the container and the rock mass in the form of a highly compacted bentonite block, while access galleries to the nests will be backfilled with a mixture of natural bentonite and rock. This mixture will be compacted in layers using compacting machinery thus ensuring maximum backfill density during compaction. Following compaction, however, spaces will remain in the gallery vault to which such compacting machines will be unable to gain access. Sprayed clay (sprayed backfill) technology, however, will allow the filling of such voids by injecting backfill so that the material compaction level obtained using this method is at least the same as the backfill compaction level resulting from that using standard compacting machinery (vibration roller, vibration plate compactor etc.).Sprayed backfill technology is based on shotcrete technology which is a method commonly applied today in the construction of underground structures. Sprayed backfill technology development may involve the use of concrete spraying machines; however the parameter requirements for the spraying of bentonite backfill differ in principal from those which apply to shotcrete.The article will provide information on the development of sprayed backfill technology, the machinery employed and the sprayed material as well as research results obtained to date.

2006 ◽  
Vol 932 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Bennett ◽  
Alan J. Hooper ◽  
Sylvie Voinis ◽  
Hiroyuki Umeki

Radioactive waste derives from all phases of the nuclear fuel cycle and from the use of radioactive materials in industrial, medical, military and research applications; all such wastes must be managed safely. The most hazardous and long-lived wastes, such as spent nuclear fuel and waste from nuclear fuel reprocessing, must be contained and isolated from humans and the environment for many thousands of years. Many Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) member countries are, therefore, researching plans for the management of long-lived radioactive waste in engineered facilities, or repositories, located deep underground in suitable geological formations.


2003 ◽  
Vol 807 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R Rodwell ◽  
Andrew R Hoch ◽  
Ben T Swift

ABSTRACTUse of compacted bentonite buffers is frequently planned in radioactive waste repositories to isolate waste canisters from the geological environment. When gas is generated from the wastes or their containers, it will need to migrate through the bentonite if pressure rises local to the canisters are to be avoided. Assessment of the effect of gas produced from waste canisters in bentonite buffers requires both experimental data on and models of gas migration through initially water-saturated bentonite. Several different approaches to modelling gas migration through bentonite are described. Some example comparison of model results with experimental data are provided, and some general discussion about the modelling approaches is offered.


1985 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Atkinson ◽  
D. J. Goult ◽  
J. A. Hearne

AbstractA preliminary assessment of the long-term durability of concrete in a repository sited in clay is presented. The assessment is based on recorded experience of concrete structures and both field and laboratory studies. It is also supported by results of the examination of a concrete sample which had been buried in clay for 43 years.The enoineering lifetime of a 1 m thick reinforced concrete slab, with one face in contact with clay, and the way in which pH in the repository as a whole is likely to vary with time have both been estimated from available data. The estimates indicate that engineering lifetimes of about 103 years are expected (providing that sulphate resisting cement is used) and that pH is likely to remain above 10.5 for about 106 years.


2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-139
Author(s):  
I. P. Korenkov ◽  
Tatyana N. Lashchenova ◽  
N. K. Shandala ◽  
V. V. Romanov

Algorithm for management of decision-making on the decommissioning of nuclear and radiation hazardous objects (RHO) should be both based on an comprehensive approach, with taking into account all the potential dangers, and relied upon on the requirements of a modern regulatory framework, as well as economically sound and socially oriented. The aim of the work was a development of a comprehensive approach to the assessment of the degree of the potential danger of near surface radioactive waste repositories in RHO, on the base of which it is possible to make substantiated management decisions for their decommissioning. Tasks: To develop an array of radio-ecological approaches, including radiation-hygienic, hydrogeological and engineering criteria for the assessment of the potential danger of radioactive waste repositories. Results There are presented radiation hygienic, hydrogeological and engineering and technical criteria on the basis of which there are calculated coefficients of the relative hazard of storages. In dependence to the value of the coefficients there are suggested four categories of danger - a safe, low dangerous, dangerous and very dangerous. There are elaborated approaches on management decisions-making in various variants of decommissioning - the conversion, renovation, conservation and liquidation.


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