Used Fuel Disposition Campaign International Collaboration in Disposal Research: DECOVALEX Project Jens Birkholzer Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory FCT UFD Working Group Meeting “International Session” UNLV, Las Vegas, NV 06/9/2016

4/28/2011

DECOVALEX Project: DEvelopment of Coupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments)

DECOVALEX was established in 1992, and has been active since, in several project stages – The objective is to achieve a better understanding and improved modeling of the effects of coupled

(T-H-M-C) processes in nuclear waste repositories

– Past DECOVALEX activities have included several international programs and research tasks with focus on clay and granite repositories

– DOE formally joined the DECOVALEX-2015 project phase in Spring 2012

DECOVALEX-2015 participations provides access to several sets of experimental data from different URLs and different host rocks

− Sealing experiment at Tournemire URL (clay)

− Heater tests at Mont Terri URL and Horonobe URL (clay)

− Bedrichov Tunnel Experiment on fracture flow and transport patterns (crystalline)

New DECOVALEX Phase has just started, with a kick-off meeting in Berkeley

4/28/2011

DECOVALEX Philosophy

In-depth and regular discussions among national agencies and research teams with different views

Multiple approaches, conceptual models, and simplifications applied to the same problem

Consideration of different challenges, designs, host rocks, processes

Emphasis on comparative analyses Simple and flexible management structure and

scientifically strong leadership Tasks closely reflecting interests of funding

organizations Excellent publication records, training standard of

PhD students, and international visibility and reputation

A successful long-term platform of information and knowledge exchange

Typical Collaboration Mode

Various teams with various models

Detailed comparison with data

Advanced experiments

Tasks in D-2015

Task A: The Sealex In Situ Experiment, Tournemire, France

Task B1: HE-E Heater Test, Mont Terri, Switzerland

Task B2: EBS Experiment, Horonobe, Japan

Task C1: THMC of single rock fractures

Task C2: Bedrichov Tunnel, Czech Republic

DECOVALEX Website

DECOVALEX-2015 Reports and Publications