Site assessment and characterization for high-level nuclear waste disposal: results from the Stripa Project, Sweden

Abstract The Stripa Project, on geologicaldisposal of radioactive waste, has been completed after a 15-year cooperative international research effort. This article summarizesthe results of research and development on methods to characterize the flow and transport properties of a fractured rock mass for repository site evaluation. The approach used, and the flow and transport experiments conducted, provide new data and permit a comparison ofmodel predictionswith large-scalefieldmeasurements. The 3D discrete fracture models used in this research gave good predictions of flowand transport to sinkscreated by boreholesbut werenot ableadequatelyto representexcavation induced changes to drift inflows.