RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES, VOL. 19, doi:10.2205/2019ES000660

POSIVA'S Rock Suitability Classification Methodolology Applied to POSIVA Plug Experiment POPLU

Paula Kosunen

Abstract

Posiva Oy has developed over the years in connection with its research, development and demonstration work a methodology, the Rock Suitability Classification (RSC), to verify the suitability of bedrock conditions underground for the verification of the exact suitable locations of the spent fuel repository, of the disposal tunnels and of the deposition holes. The work has been carried out in Posiva's Underground Rock Characterization Facility (URCF) ONKALO®. Posiva's disposal system is based on the KBS-3V® concept and in the demonstration project for plugs and seals (DOPAS) this methodology was applied successfully to select the location of a disposal tunnel plug POPLU. In this paper and in the memorandum on which this paper is based on, the objectives of the task are stated and a short description of the methodology of the system, as it was in 2013, is given in Chapter 2 together with the requirements related to the host rock acceptable for a plug location in Chapter 3. The requirements for the plug are derived from the long-term safety requirements for the geological disposal system and for the safety functions attributed to each repository system component. Further the Chapters 4 and 5 describe the two different rounds of the process where the rock suitability classification was applied for determining the most suitable location for the POPLU plug in Posiva's underground demonstration area. The conclusions of this work done applying this methodology for the plug location selections are shortly described in Chapter 6.

KEYWORDS: Classification of metamorphic rock properties, fracturing, stability, ground water chemistry, ground water flow, spent nuclear fuel disposal, long-term safety, ONKALO, DOPAS, POPLU, RSC.

Submitted 02.02.2019, accepted 20.02.2019.

     

 
Citation: Kosunen Paula (2019), POSIVA'S Rock Suitability Classification Methodolology Applied to POSIVA Plug Experiment POPLU, Russ. J. Earth Sci., 19, doi:10.2205/2019ES000660.