Understanding flow along fractures and faults is of importance to the performance assessment (PA) of a geological disposal facility (GDF) for radioactive waste. Flow can occur along pre-existing fractures in the host-rock or along fractures created during the construction of the GDF within the excavation damage zone (EDZ). The complex fracture network will have a range of orientations and will exist within a complex stress regime. Critical stress theory suggests that fractures close to localized shear failure are critically stressed and therefore most conductive to fluid flow. Analysis of fault geometry and stress conditions at Sellafield has revealed that no features were found to be, or even close to being, classified as critically stressed, despite some being conductive. In order to understand the underlying reasons why non-critically stressed fractures were conductive a series of laboratory experiments were performed. A bespoke angled shear rig (ASR) was built in order to study the relationship between fluid flow (water and gas) through a fracture surface as a function of normal load. Fluid flow reduced with an increase in normal load, as expected. During unloading considerable hysteresis was seen in flow and shear stress. Fracture flow was only partially recovered for water injection, whereas gas flow increased remarkably during unloading. The ratio of shear stress to normal stress seems to control the fluid flow properties during the unloading stage of the experiment demonstrating its significance in fracture flow. The exhumation of the Sellafield area during the Palaeogene–Neogene resulted in considerable stress relaxation and in fractures becoming non-critically stressed. The hysteresis in shear stress during uplift has resulted in faults remaining, or becoming, conductive. The field and laboratory observations illustrate that understanding the stress-history of a fractured rock mass is essential, and a mere understanding of the current stress regime is insufficient to estimate the flow characteristics of present-day fractures.

Radioactive particulate matter (identified as hot particles) is present in the effluent discharged by the British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) uranium reprocessing plant at Sellafield, Cumbria, UK. There is very little information on the abundance or chemical and physical forms of solid matter in the effluent; even less is known of the significance of particulate debris in relation to the uptake of radionuclides for non-occupationally exposed people as a result of transfer along marine foodchains. Some observations on the occurrence and abundance of hot particles in the vicinity of Sellafield are reported, with special reference to those that contain transuranic radionuclides (Pu,Am,Cm). Some of the uncertainties are discussed in an evaluation of the significance of hot particles, albeit aggregates of colloids for the smallest particles, and exposure to man from ionizing radiation. There is no evidence that hot particles derived from BNFL and subsequently dispersed into the marine environment represent a hazard to man. However, further studies are required in order to determine whether or not the pathways followed by the particles are significant, or different to those of other radionuclides through which the radiation exposure of man within this region of Cumbria is assessed.