Vacancy-Mediated Increases in Brine–Salt Surface Energies

Salt formations have been explored for the permanent isolation of spent nuclear fuel based on their high thermal conductivity, self-healing nature, and low hydraulic permeability to brine flow. Vacancy defect concentrations in salt complicate fracture mechanics not driven by dislocation dynamics and can influence the resulting surface structure. Classical molecular dynamic simulations were used to simulate tensile testing of salt crystals (halite) with vacancy defect concentrations of up to 0.5 defects/nm³. Increasing defect concentrations resulted in a decrease in ultimate tensile strength and fracture surface energies, driven by increased surface roughness rather than changes in the amount of surface area. Brine-salt surface energies of the fractured surfaces were 0.22 to 0.26 J/m², significantly higher than values reported for atomically flat (100) surfaces at the same brine composition. This change in surface energy increased the brine-salt dihedral angle by ∼27°. The dihedral angle threshold for percolation in salt is 60°, and a 27° increase due to rough fracture surfaces identifies a reduction in porosity percolation and a decrease in salt permeability. Therefore, bedded salt and salt domes may be even more stable than those previously predicted from dihedral angle calculations.