Strategy for Experimental Validation of Waste Package Performance Assessment

A strategy for the experimental validation of waste package performance assessment has been developed as part of a program supported by the Repository Technology Program. The strategy was developed by reviewing the results of laboratory analog experiments, in-situ tests, repository simulation tests, and material interaction tests. As a result of the review, a listing of dependent and independent variables that influence the ingress of water into the near-field environment, the reaction between water and the waste form, and the transport of radionuclides from the near-field environment was developed. The variables necessary to incorporate into an experimental validation strategy were chosen by identifying those which had the greatest effect of each of the three major events, i.e., groundwater ingress, waste package reactions, and radionuclide transport. The methodology to perform validation experiments was examined by utilizing an existing laboratory analog approach developed for unsaturated testing of glass waste forms.