Suitability of Natural Geomedia for Radwaste Storage

Selection of the best rock types for radwaste disposal will depend on their having minimal permeability, maximal flow dispersion, minimal chance of forming new wide aperture fractures, maximal ion retention, and minimal thermal and mining disturbance. While no rock is perfect, thinly bedded complex sedimentary sequences may have good properties, either as repository rocks, or as cover to a repository. Long time prediction of such favorable properties of a rock at a given site may be best modelled from studies of in situ rock properties. Fracture flow, dispersion history, and geological stability can be derived from direct observations of rocks themselves, and can provide the parameters needed for convincing demonstration of repository security for appropriate times.