Abstract
This paper1 summarizes the results of research activities which focus on thermalmechanical-hydrological (T-M-H) coupling and its implications on the safety issues related to the Canadian concept for the disposal of nuclear fuel wastes. These research activities include the development of a finite element computer code, FRACON, its verification against analytical solutions and its calibration against laboratory and field experiments. The FRACON code was used in the preliminary analysis of the coupled T-M-H response of a sparsely fractured rock mass around a hypothetical nuclear fuel waste repository. It was found that the flow and structural characteristics of this rock mass could be significantly perturbed by the thermal pulse generated by the wastes. The implications of these perturbations on the safety of the disposal system have to be further quantified.
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Nguyen, T.S., Selvadurdi, A.P.S. (1996). Modelling of thermal consolidation of sparsely fractured rock in the context of nuclear waste management. In: Selvadurai, A.P.S. (eds) Mechanics of Poroelastic Media. Solid Mechanics and Its Applications, vol 35. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8698-6_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8698-6_9
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