Top

Hydrogeology Journal

Published in:

01-05-2012 | Report

Modelling groundwater contamination above a nuclear waste repository at Gorleben, Germany

Author: Michael O. Schwartz

Published in: Hydrogeology Journal | Issue 3/2012

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

The candidate repository for high-level nuclear waste in the Gorleben salt dome, Germany, is expected to host 8,550 tonnes of uranium in burnt fuel. It has been proposed that 5,440 waste containers be deposited at a depth of about 800 m. There is 260–280 m of siliciclastic cover sediments above the proposed repository. The potential groundwater contamination in the siliciclastic aquifer is simulated with the TOUGHREACT and TOUGH2-MP codes for a three-dimensional model with 290,435 elements. Two deterministic cases are simulated. The single-phase case considers the transport of radionuclides in the liquid phase only. The two-phase case accounts for hydrogen gas generated by the corrosion of waste containers and release of gaseous C-14. The gas release via a backfilled shaft is assumed to be steady (non-explosive). The simulation period is 2,000,000 years for the single-phase case and 7,000 years for the two-phase case. Only the radioactive dose in the two-phase case is higher than the regulatory limit (0.1 mSv/a).

previous article Single-well and large-scale cross-hole tracer experiments in fractured rocks at two sites in Sweden

next article Impact of climate change on groundwater recharge in a small catchment in the Black Forest, Germany

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Beushausen M, Ludwig R (1990) Hydrogeologische Gliederung der oberoligozänen und miozänen Schichten [Hydrogeological classification of the upper Oligocene and Miocene strata]. Report archive no. 106036, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany

Bornemann O, Behlau J, Fischbeck R, Hammer J, Jaritz W, Keller S, Mingerzahn G, Schramm M (2008) Standortbeschreibung Gorleben, Teil 3: Ergebnisse der über- und untertägigen Erkundung des Salinars [Description of the Gorleben site, part 3: results of the surface and underground exploration of the salt formation]. Geol Jahrb C73:5–211

Brooks RH, Corey AT (1964) Hydraulic properties of porous media. Hydrology Papers 3, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, pp 1–27

Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (2010) Lösungsvorkommen im Salzstock Gorleben [The occurrence of fluids in the Gorleben salt dome]. http://www.bfs.endlager/gorleben/loesungen_salzstock.html. Cited on 3 June 2010

Corey AT (1954) The interrelation between gas and oil relative permeabilities. Producer’s Monthly, vol 19, no. 1, November 1954 (quoted by Brooks and Corey 1964)

GSF (2006) Deckgebirgsmodellierung Phase IV: Grundwasserbewegungen im Deckgebirge des Standortes Asse [Cover rock modelling phase IV: Groundwater movements in the cover rock of the Asse site]. GSF Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit, München, Germany

Hughes JD, Sanford WE (2004) SUTRA-MS: a version of SUTRA modified to simulate heat and multiple-solute transport. US Geol Surv Open-File Rep 2004–1207, 141 pp

Javeri V (2006) Three-dimensional analyses of coupled gas, heat and nuclide transport in a repository including rock salt convergence. Proceedings, TOUGH Symposium 2006, 15–17 May 2006, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 9 pp

Johns RT, Rivera A (1996) Comment on “Dispersive transport dynamics in a strongly coupled groundwater-brine flow system” by Curtis M. Oldenburg and Karsten Pruess. Water Resour Res 32:3405–3410CrossRef

Keesmann S, Nosek U, Buhrmann D, Fein E, Schneider A (2005) Modellrechnungen zur Langzeitsicherheit von Endlagern in Salz- and Granit-Formationen [Model calculations for the long-term safety of repositories in salt and granite formations]. Report GRS-206, GRS, Braunschweig, Germany

Klemenz W, Rivera A, Wollrath J, Genter M (1998) Three-dimensional coupled groundwater movement and salt transport calculations as part of the safety assessment of the Gorleben repository, Germany. Proceedings DisTec’98, 9–11 September 1998, Hamburg, Germany, pp 591–596

Klinge H (1994) Zusammenfassende Bearbeitung der chemischen und isotopengeochemischen Zusammensetzung der Grundwässer im Deckgebirge des Salzstocks Gorleben [Summary of the investigations on the chemical and isotopic composition of the groundwater in the cover rock of the Gorleben salt dome]. Report archive no. 0111699, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany

Klinge H, Margane A, Mrugalla S, Schelkes K, Söfner B (2001) Hydrogeologie des Untersuchungsgebietes Dömitz-Lenzen [Hydrogeology of the Dömitz-Lenzen exploration area]. Report archive no. 0121207, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany

Klinge H, Boehme J, Grissemann C, Houben G, Ludwig R, Rübel A, Schelkes K, Schildknecht F, Suckow A (2007) Standortbeschreibung Gorleben, Teil 1: Die Hydrogeologie des Deckgebirges des Salzstocks Gorleben [Description of the Gorleben site, part 1: hydrogeology of the cover rock of the Gorleben salt dome]. Geol Jahrb C71:5–147

Konikow LF, Sanford WE, Campbell PJ (1997) Constant-concentration boundary condition: lessons from the HYDROCOIN variable-density groundwater benchmark problem. Water Resour Res 33:2253–2261CrossRef

Köthe A, Hoffmann N, Krull P, Zirngast M, Zwirner R (2007) Standortbeschreibung Gorleben, Teil 2: Die Geologie des Deck- und Nebengebirges des Salzstocks Gorleben [Description of the Gorleben site, part 2: the geology of the cover rock and country rock of the Gorleben salt dome]. Geol Jahrb C72:5–201

Lichtner PC (2007) FLOTRAN user’s manual: two-phase nonisothermal coupled thermal-hydrologic-chemical (THC) reactive flow & transport code, version 2.0. Report LA-UR-01-2349, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, pp 1–168

Ludwig R, Mandl J, Uhlig A (1989) Zwischenbericht über die Diskretisierung hydrogeologischer Strukturen im Bereich Gorleben [Interim report on the discretisation of hydrogeological structures in the Gorleben area]. Report archive no. 0105061, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany

Ludwig R, Schneider M, Sewing D (1993) Projekt Gorleben: Hydrogeologische Gliederung der quartärzeitlichen Schichtenfolge [Project Gorleben: Hydrogeological classification of the Quaternary strata]. Report archive no. 110256, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany

Ludwig R, Schelkes K, Vogel P, Wollrath J (2001) Implications of large-scale heterogeneities for hydraulic model studies at the potential site of a radioactive waste repository at Gorleben, Germany. Eng Geol 61:119–130CrossRef

Mills RT, Lu C, Lichtner PC, Hammond GE (2007) Simulating subsurface flow and transport on ultrascale computers using PFLOTRAN. J Phys Conf Ser 78:1–7CrossRef

NAGRA (2002) Project Opalinus Clay: safety report. NAGRA technical report 02–05, NAGRA, Wettingen, Switzerland

Nykyri M, Nordman H, Marcos N, Löfman J, Poteri A, Hautojärvi A (2008) Radionuclide release and transport - RNT-2008. POSIVA Report 2008–06, Olkiluoto, Finland, 164 pp

Oldenburg CM, Pruess K (1995a) Dispersive transport dynamics in a strongly coupled groundwater-brine flow system. Water Resour Res 31:289–302CrossRef

Oldenburg CM, Pruess K (1995b) Strongly coupled single-phase flow problems: effects of density variation, hydrodynamic dispersion, and first order decay. Paper presented at the TOUGH Workshop ’95, 20–22 March 1995, Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 6 pp

Oldenburg CM, Pruess K, Travis BJ (1996) Reply to Comment on “Dispersive transport dynamics in a strongly coupled groundwater-brine flow system”. Water Resour Res 32:3411–3412CrossRef

Pruess K, Oldenburg C, Moridis G (1999) TOUGH2 user’s guide, version 2.0. Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 198 pp

Rasmussen TC (2001) Pressure wave vs. tracer velocities through unsaturated fractured rock. In: Evans DD, Nicholson TF, Rasmussen TC (eds) Flow and transport through unsaturated fractured rock, 2nd edn. AGU Geophysical Monograph 42, AGU, Washington, DC, pp 45–52CrossRef

Roedder E (1984) The fluids in salt. Am Mineral 69:413–439

Roedder E (1990) Formation, handling, storage and disposal of nuclear wastes. J Geol Educ 38:360–392

Saripalli KP, Serne RJ, Meyer PD, McGrail BP (2002) Prediction of diffusion coefficients in porous media using tortuosity factors based on interfacial areas. Ground Water 40:346–352CrossRef

Schulze O (2002) Auswirkung der Gasentwicklung auf die Integrität geringdurchlässiger Barrieregesteine [Gas generation affecting the integrity of low-permeability barrier rocks]. Report archive no. 0122442, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany, 142 pp

Schwartz MO (2009) Modelling groundwater contamination above the Asse 2 medium-level waste repository, Germany. Environ Earth Sci 59:277–286CrossRef

Schwartz MO (2010) Clearing out Asse 2. Nuclear Engineering International, July 2010. http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2057290. Cited 27 Dec 2011, pp 26–27

Serco (2003) NAMMU 7.2 user guide. Serco, Didcot, UK, 262 pp

SKB (2006) Long-term safety for KBS-3 repositories at Forsmark and Laxemar: a first evaluation. SKB technical report TR-06-09, Stockholm, Sweden, 620 pp

Storck R, Aschenbach J, Hirsekorn RP, Nies A, Stelte N (1988) PAGIS performance assessment of geological isolation systems for radioactive waste: disposal in salt formations. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 788 pp

Stührenberg D (2010) Laborversuche an Versatzvarianten in der Oedometerzelle [Laboratory experiments with various backfill types in the oedometer cell]. http://www.geozentrum-hannover.de. Cited 3 June 2010

Suter D, Biehler D, Blasser P, Hollmann A (1998) Derivation of a sorption data set for the Gorleben overburden. Proceedings DisTec ’98, 9–11 September 1998, Hamburg, Germany, pp 581–584

van Genuchten MT (1980) A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 44:892–898CrossRef

Vogel P (2005) Orientierende 3-D-Grundwassermodellrechnungen auf den Strukturen eines hydrogeologischen Modells Gorleben [Scoping calculations for a hydrogeological 3-D model structure of the Gorleben area]. Report archive No. 0125865, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany, 70 pp

Vogel P, Schelkes K (1996) Influence of initial conditions and hydrogeological setting on variable density flow in an aquifer above a salt dome. Proceedings ModelCARE 96 Conference, Golden, CO, September 1996, IAHS Pub no. 237, IAHS, Wallingford, UK pp 373–381

Xu T, Sonnenthal E, Spycher N, Pruess K (2005) TOUGHREACT user’s guide: a simulation program for non-isothermal multiphase reactive geochemical transport in variably saturated geologic media. Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 195 pp

Zhang K, Wu Y, Pruess K (2008) User’s guide for TOUGH2-MP: a massively parallel version of the TOUGH2 code. Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, USA, 108 pp

Title: Modelling groundwater contamination above a nuclear waste repository at Gorleben, Germany
Author: Michael O. Schwartz
Publication date: 01-05-2012
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Hydrogeology Journal / Issue 3/2012
Print ISSN: 1431-2174
Electronic ISSN: 1435-0157
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-011-0825-z

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Technik"

Other articles of this Issue 3/2012

Alternative conceptual models and the robustness of groundwater management scenarios in the multi-aquifer system of the Central Veneto Basin, Italy

Erratum: Translation of field tracer-test results into bounding predictions of matrix diffusion in the shallow subsurface at Idaho National Laboratory, USA

Basin-scale groundwater response to precipitation variation and anthropogenic pumping in Chih-Ben watershed, Taiwan

Editor’s message: Editors’ Choice articles for 2011 and upcoming theme issues

Impact of climate change on groundwater recharge in a small catchment in the Black Forest, Germany

Modeling water resources of a highly irrigated alluvial plain (Italy): calibrating soil and groundwater models