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The Assessment of the Performance of the Engineered Barriers in a Repository for the Disposal of Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

A. Atkinson ,
A.W. Harris ,
C.C. Naish ,
S.M. Sharland  and
A.C. Smith
A. Atkinson
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA, U.K
A.W. Harris
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA, U.K
C.C. Naish
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA, U.K
S.M. Sharland
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA, U.K
A.C. Smith
Affiliation:
AEA Technology, Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORA, U.K
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Abstract

Current plans for the disposal of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste in the U.K. comprise emplacement of steel or concrete containers of waste in a deep underground repository where they will be surrounded by a cementitious backfill. Research is in progress to assess the effectiveness of steel and concrete as barriers to radionuclide release from the repository. A joint experimental and modelling approach is used. Studies of the transport properties of dissolved radionuclides and gases through concrete, and the ability of the concrete to control the pH in the repository are described. Localised and uniform corrosion of carbon and stainless steels are investigated in the high pH conditions of the repository. The research shows that engineered barriers of concrete and steel can provide useful physical containment in the short term and contribute to chemical containment for hundreds of thousands of years.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 257: Symposium – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XV , 1991 , 633
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992

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References

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