Assessment of thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical (THMC) performances of Ca-type bentonite-graphite mixtures as buffer materials for a high-level radioactive waste repository

The bentonite buffer material is the most important element of the engineered barrier system (EBS) used to dispose of high-level radioactive waste. Therefore, there are functional criteria or performance targets for the bentonite buffer material to maintain the long-term performance of the EBS for the entire disposal system. Thermal conductivity is a key parameter in the design of an EBS as it has the greatest influence on the buffer temperature. As the peak temperature of the buffer should not exceed the thermal design criterion, it is necessary to increase the thermal conductivity of the bentonite buffer material. Therefore, in this study, a small portion of graphite was added to Ca-type bentonite and thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical properties were measured separately, along with overall THMC (thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical) properties. Additionally, while thermal conductivity was examined for varying graphite contents, other properties such as hydraulic conductivity, swelling pressure, and unconfined compressive strength were tested with a 3 % graphite addition. In particular, the thermal conductivity was measured for 3 % graphite addition to the pure bentonite under the different dry densities and saturation conditions and a regression analysis was performed to predict thermal conductivity based on the dry density and degree of saturation values. Furthermore, the saturated hydraulic conductivity, swelling pressure, unconfined compressive strength, and sorption efficiency of cesium (Cs) ions in bentonite and bentonite-graphite mixtures were measured. Moreover, prototype buffer blocks for bentonite-graphite mixtures were manufactured to evaluate viability of production. The addition of 3 % graphite to pure bentonite satisfied the functional criteria of saturated hydraulic conductivity and swelling pressure when the dry density was 1.63 g/cm 3 or higher, and the thermal conductivity of the bentonite-3 % graphite mixtures was 10–30 % higher than that of pure bentonite. • It is necessary to increase thermal conductivity of bentonite buffer material to reduce the disposal site area. • This paper measured the THMC properties and evaluated performance targets for the Ca-type bentonite-3 % graphite mixtures. • This paper also produced proto-type blocks of the bentonite-3 % graphite mixtures to evaluate production feasibility.