Three-dimensional thermal analysis of in-floor type nuclear waste repository for a ceramic waste form

A thermal model is constructed and analyses are performed for an 'in-floor' type nuclear waste repository in granitic rock for a high level nuclear waste (HLW)-bearing ceramic waste form (synroc). Transient calculations for a three-dimensional (3-D) model have been carried out for both 20 and 10 wt.% HLW-bearing synroc, for surface cooling periods between reactor discharge and geological disposal varying from 5 to 40 years. This study investigates the temperature distribution in one of the boreholes of a hypothetical tunnel for a basic geometrical setting as well as the effect of varying the distance between adjacent boreholes and the distance between adjacent tunnels. The temperatures in the repository were found to be sensitive to the interim surface cooling period as well as the amount of waste loaded. The results showed that decreasing the spacing between the canisters has a more pronounced effect on the temperature field than decreasing the spacing between the tunnels. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.