Diffusive Transport of Dissolved Gases in Potential Concretes for Nuclear Waste Disposal

Elke Jacops, Quoc Tri Phung, Lander Frederickx and Séverine Levasseur
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Elke Jacops: SCK CEN, 2400 Mol, Belgium
Quoc Tri Phung: SCK CEN, 2400 Mol, Belgium
Lander Frederickx: SCK CEN, 2400 Mol, Belgium
Séverine Levasseur: ONDRAF/NIRAS, 1210 Brussels, Belgium

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: In many countries, the preferred option for the long-term management of high- and intermediate level radioactive waste and spent fuel is final disposal in a geological repository. In this geological repository, the generation of gas will be unavoidable. In order to make a correct balance between gas generation and dissipation by diffusion, knowledge of the diffusion coefficients of gases in the host rock and the engineered barriers is essential. Currently, diffusion coefficients for the Boom Clay, a potential Belgian host rock, are available, but the diffusion coefficients for gases in the engineered concrete barriers are still lacking. Therefore, diffusion experiments with dissolved gases were performed on two concrete-based barrier materials considered in the current Belgian disposal concept, by using the double through-diffusion technique for dissolved gases, which was developed in 2008 by SCK CEN. Diffusion measurements were performed with four gases including helium, neon, methane and ethane. Information on the microstructure of the materials (e.g., pore size distribution) was obtained by combining N 2 -adsorption, mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and water sorptivity measurements. A comparison was made with data obtained from cement-based samples (intact and degraded), and the validity of existing predictive models was investigated.

Keywords: gas diffusion; concrete; engineered barrier; microstructure; nuclear disposal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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