AREHS: effects of changing boundary conditions on the development of hydrogeological systems: numerical long-term modelling considering thermal–hydraulic–mechanical(–chemical) coupled effects

• Published in: Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal
• Main Authors: Kahnt, R., Konietzky, H., Nagel, T., Kolditz, Olaf, Jockel, A., Silbermann, C.B., Tiedke, F., Meisel, Tobias, Rink, Karsten, Wang, Wenqing, Zill, Florian, Carl, A., Gabriel, A.D., Schlegel, M., Abraham, T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2021
• Subjects: permafrost
• Online Access: https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=25616; https://doi.org/10.5194/sand-1-175-2021

Within the framework of the “Gesetz zur Suche und Auswahl eines Standortes für ein Endlager für hochradioaktive Abfälle” (Repository Site Selection Act – StandAG), the geoscientific and planning requirements and criteria for the site selection for a repository for high-active nuclear waste are specified. This includes, among others, the modelling of hydrogeological scenarios such as how future cold and warm periods and associated glaciation events can change the (petro-)physical properties specified in the StandAG as well as the natural hydrogeological properties of the overall system through, for example, reactivation of faults or changes in hydraulic gradients and consequently flow directions.The main objective of the AREHS (Effects of Changing Boundary Conditions on the Development of Hydrogeological Systems) project, funded by BASE (Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management; FKZ 4719F10402), is to model the effects of changing external boundary conditions on the hydrogeologically relevant parameters and effects (e.g. hydraulic permeability, porosity, migration pathways, fluid availability, hydraulic gradients) of a generic geological repository in Germany in all three potential host rocks (clay, salt and crystalline rocks) and its surrounding hydrogeological setting (Table 1). Special attention is paid to the cyclic mechanical loading and unloading due to glaciation events and the resulting stress changes (M), as well as induced temperature effects (T) due to permafrost and warm periods. As such processes can cause changes in the coupled far-field regime with groundwater flow and groundwater supply (H), as well as fluid transport due to thermal (T) and chemical (C) gradients, and reactivate faults/fractures (M) and thus create new/additional pathways, they are particularly relevant to the integrity of a repository over a period of 1 million years and must be properly captured with coupled THM(C) modelling. Before a model is set up for the different host rocks, a detailed assessment of ...