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In-Situ Diffusion Experiment In Sparsely Fractured Granite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

Peter Vilks ,
Neil H. Miller  and
Mark Jensen
Peter Vilks
Affiliation:
AECL, Whiteshell Laboratories, Pinawa, M.B., Canada, R0E 1L0. E-mail:, [email protected]
Neil H. Miller
Affiliation:
AECL, Whiteshell Laboratories, Pinawa, M.B., Canada, R0E 1L0
Mark Jensen
Affiliation:
Ontario Power Generation, Nuclear Waste Management Division, 700 University Ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X6. E-mail:, [email protected]
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Abstract

The in-situ diffusion experiment was conducted at AECL's Underground Research Laboratory (URL) to improve the understanding of diffusive solute transport in sparsely fractured or intact granitic rock (SFR). The experimental program used a comparative series of laboratory and in-situ field experiments to evaluate the ability of laboratory measurements to estimate in-situ rock properties and to explore issues surrounding the influence of stress relaxation, rock texture, porosity, pore geometry, and anisotropy on derived effective diffusion coefficients (De). In-situ experiments yielded iodide Debetween 1.4 × 10−13 and 1.1 × 10−12 m2/s. Unlike laboratory results, the in-situ De estimates did not exhibit correlation with sample depth or varied stress regime. Laboratory-derived measurements of De, porosity and permeability were found to systematically increase for samples removed from greater depths and higher stress regimes. Laboratory-derived iodide De values consistently trended higher than in-situ values by a factor of 1 to 15, except on the shallowest 240-m Level (σ1 ≍ 30 MPa) where differences were negligible. Laboratory-derived estimates of permeability were consistently higher than in-situ derived values by a factor of 2 to 100. This experimental program provides evidence that laboratory steady-state diffusion experiments are most likely to yield conservative values of De for simulation of diffusive mass transport in SFR.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 824: Symposium CC – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXVIII , 2004 , CC7.4
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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