Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project; Investigation program for the 2023 fiscal year

Nakayama, Masashi

JAEA-Review 2023-019, 70 Pages, 2023/11

JAEA-Review-2023-019.pdf:6.83MB

The Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL) Project is being pursued by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to enhance the reliability of relevant technologies for geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste through investigating the deep geological environment within the host sedimentary rocks at Horonobe Town in Hokkaido, north Japan. In the fiscal year 2023, we continue R&D on "Study on near-field system performance in geological environment", "Demonstration of repository design options", and "Understanding of buffering behaviour of sedimentary rocks to natural perturbations". These are identified as key R&D challenges to be tackled in the Horonobe underground research plan for the fiscal year 2020 onwards. In the "Study on near-field system performance in geological environment", we conduct the coupled analysis on the full-scale engineered barrier system performance experiment and test the coupled simulation code through comparison with different simulation codes in the international DECOVALEX-2023 collaboration project. Borehole investigations are also carried out for solute transport experiments in the Koetoi Formation. As for "Demonstration of repository design concept", we carry out in situ experiments and data analysis on concrete deterioration under the subsurface conditions. Geophysical surveys are also carried out around an experimental tunnel to be newly excavated at the 350m gallery and characterise the initial conditions of the excavation damaged zone. For the "Understanding of buffering behaviour of sedimentary rocks to natural perturbations", we analyse the results of the hydraulic disturbance tests conducted in previous years and understand the relationship between rock stress / stress state and fault / fracture hydraulic connectivity. Concerning the construction and maintenance of the subsurface facilities, the 350 m gallery is extended and shafts are sank to a depth of 500 m.

Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project; Investigation report for the 2021 fiscal year

Nakayama, Masashi

JAEA-Review 2022-025, 164 Pages, 2022/11

JAEA-Review-2022-025.pdf:12.25MB

The Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL) Project is being pursued by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The main aim of this project is to enhance the reliability of relevant disposal technologies for geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste through a comprehensive research and development (R&D) program in the deep geological environment within the host sedimentary rock at Horonobe in Hokkaido, north Japan. In fiscal year 2021, we continued R&D on three important issues specified in the "Horonobe Underground Research Plan from Fiscal Year 2020", which involve "Study on near-field system performance in geological environment", "Demonstration of repository design options", and "Understanding of buffering behaviour of sedimentary rock to natural perturbations". Specifically, "full-scale engineered barrier system (EBS) performance experiment" and "solute transport experiment with model testing" were carried out as part of "Study on near-field system performance in geological environment". "Demonstration of engineering feasibility of repository technology" and "evaluation of EBS behaviour over 100C' were addressed for "Demonstration of repository design options". A study on "Understanding of buffering behaviour of sedimentary rock to natural perturbations" was also implemented in two areas, "evaluation of intrinsic buffering against endogenic and exogenic processes" and "development of techniques for evaluating excavation damaged zone (EDZ) self-sealing behaviour after backfilling". The results of the R&D, along with those obtained in other departments of JAEA, will reinforce the technical basis for both repository implementation and safety regulation. For the sake of this, we will steadily proceed with this project in collaboration with relevant organizations and universities both domestically and internationally and also widely publish the plans and results of the R&D to ensure their transparency and technical reliability.

Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project; Investigation program for the 2021 fiscal year

Nakayama, Masashi

JAEA-Review 2021-009, 54 Pages, 2021/07

JAEA-Review-2021-009.pdf:5.02MB

The Horonobe URL Project is being pursued by the JAEA to enhance the reliability of relevant disposal technologies for geological disposal of High-level Radioactive Waste through investigations of the deep geological environment within the host sedimentary rock at Horonobe Town in Hokkaido, north Japan. In 2021 fiscal year (2021/2022), JAEA continue to conduct research on "Demonstration of EBS in geological environment", "Demonstration of disposal concept", and "Validation of buffer capacity of the sedimentary rock to tectonism", which are the important issues shown in the Horonobe underground research plan after 2020 fiscal year. The main studies to be conducted in 2021 fiscal year are as follows. As "Demonstration of EBS in geological environment", we will shift to the test under the condition that the influence of heating is eliminated in the full scale EBS experiment. As "Demonstration of disposal concept", as a demonstration of the closure techniques, it details the conditions under which long-term transitions in the tunnel and surrounding bedrock have a significant impact on safety assessments. And we will continue engineering scale experiment to confirm the workability and performance of plugs and laboratory tests to examine the interaction between backfilling materials and buffer materials. As "Validation of buffer capacity of the sedimentary rock to tectonism", we will analyze the results of the hydraulic disturbance test and continue to study the hydraulic disconnection of faults/fissures in the Wakkanai Formation. As an advancement of technology for investigating and evaluating areas where the flow of groundwater is extremely slow, a boring exploration will be conducted to confirm the three-dimensional distribution of the fossil seawater area.

Backfill material characteristics using the bentonite/excavated rock mixture in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project (Contract research)

Sugita, Yutaka; Kikuchi, Hirohito*; Hoshino, Emiko*

JAEA-Data/Code 2020-017, 39 Pages, 2021/01

JAEA-Data-Code-2020-017.pdf:2.96MB

In Japan, high-level radioactive waste (HLW) will be buried in a purpose built repository in deep underground. In the vertical disposal concept of HLW, nuclear waste canisters will be emplaced in excavated vertical disposal holes, surrounded by bentonite/sand mixture. And the galleries will be backfilled with bentonite/excavated rock mixture, which will be isolated with a concrete plug. Japan Atomic Energy Agency has performed swelling test, permeability test, thermal property measurement, uniaxial compression test, water potential measurement and infiltration tests to identify coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical behavior that will operate in the backfill material using excavated rock in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL). The obtained data will be used to support an ongoing full scale, in-situ experiment being conducted in the Horonobe URL.

Does fault activation affect the hydraulic disconnectivity of faults in mudstone?

Ono, Hirokazu; Takeda, Masaki; Ishii, Eiichi

Extended abstract of International Conference on Coupled Processes in Fractured Geological Media; Observation, Modeling, and Application (CouFrac 2020) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2020/11

Synthesis report on the R&D for the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory; Project carried out during fiscal years 2015-2019

Nakayama, Masashi; Saiga, Atsushi; Kimura, Shun; Mochizuki, Akihito; Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Ono, Hirokazu; Miyakawa, Kazuya; Takeda, Masaki; Hayano, Akira; Matsuoka, Toshiyuki; et al.

JAEA-Research 2019-013, 276 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Research-2019-013.pdf:18.72MB

The Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL) Project is being pursued by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to enhance the reliability of relevant disposal technologies for geological disposal of High-level Radioactive Waste through investigations of the deep geological environment within the host sedimentary rock at Horonobe Town in Hokkaido, north Japan. The investigations will be conducted in three phases, namely "Phase 1: Surface based investigations", "Phase 2: Construction phase" (investigations during construction of the underground facilities) and "Phase 3: Operation phase" (research in the underground facilities). According to the research plan described in the 3rd Mid- and Long- term Plan of JAEA, "Near-field performance study", "Demonstration of repository design option", and "Verification of crustal-movement buffering capacity of sedimentary rocks" are important issues of the Horonobe URL Project, and schedule of future research and backfill plans of the project will be decided by the end of 2019 Fiscal Year. The present report summarizes the research and development activities of these 3 important issues carried out during 3rd Medium to Long-term Research Phase.

Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project; Investigation program for the 2019 fiscal year

Aoyagi, Kazuhei

JAEA-Review 2019-008, 20 Pages, 2019/07

JAEA-Review-2019-008.pdf:3.33MB

As part of the research and development program on the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), the Horonobe Underground Research Center, a division of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), is implementing the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project (Horonobe URL Project) with the aim at investigating sedimentary rock formations. According to the research plan described in the 3rd Mid- and Long- term Plan of JAEA, "Near-field performance study", "Demonstration of repository design option", and "Verification of crustal-movement buffering capacity of sedimentary rocks" are the top priority issues of the Horonobe URL Project, and schedule of future research and backfill plans of the project will be decided by the end of 2019 Fiscal Year. The Horonobe URL Project is planned to extend over a period of about 20 years. The investigations will be conducted in three phases, namely "Phase 1: Surface-based investigations", "Phase 2: Construction phase" (investigations during construction of the underground facilities) and "Phase 3: Operation phase" (research in the underground facilities). This report summarizes the investigation program for the 2019 fiscal year (2019/2020). In the 2019 fiscal year, investigations in "geoscientific research", including "development of techniques for investigating the geological environment", "development of engineering techniques for use in the deep underground environment" and "studies on the long-term stability of the geological environment", are continuously carried out. Investigations in "research and development on geological disposal technology", including "improving the reliability of disposal technologies" and "enhancement of safety assessment methodologies", are also continuously carried out.

Data of tracer migration test and borehole investigations for fracture zone in the Wakkanai formation at Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory

Tsushima, Masahito*; Takeda, Masaki; Ono, Hirokazu

JAEA-Data/Code 2018-008, 78 Pages, 2018/10

JAEA-Data-Code-2018-008.pdf:6.73MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2018-008(errata).pdf:0.11MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2018-008-appendix(DVD-ROM).zip:263.67MB

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting "geoscientific study" and "research and development on geological disposal" in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL). In-situ tracer migration test for fracture and matrix in the argillaceous rock, called for Wakkanai formation, has been conducted in the Horonobe URL project. This report summarizes data of borehole investigations and tracer migration test for fracture zone.

A Study of the evaluation of the excavation damaged zone in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory, 1; Investigation in the 140 m gallery (Joint research)

Sugita, Yutaka; Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Kubota, Kenji*; Nakata, Eiji*; Oyama, Takahiro*

JAEA-Research 2018-002, 72 Pages, 2018/06

JAEA-Research-2018-002.pdf:6.16MB

In a excavation of shafts and galleries in the deep underground for disposing radioactive waste, an excavation damaged zone (EDZ) is developed around the galleries and shafts owing to the stress redistribution. Since the characteristic changes of the rock mass in the EDZ affects the radionuclides migration behavior, it is important to understand the long-term behavior of the EDZ. Thus, we performed the in situ experiment to investigate the long-term behavior of EDZ as part of the collaborative research between Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry in the 140m gallery in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory. In this research, we investigated the extent, mechanism of the change of hydro-mechanical characteristic, and long-term behavior of the EDZ on the basis of the comprehensive estimation of the results of the observation of the drift wall and the various investigations using boreholes such as geological investigation, the seismic and resistivity tomography, hydraulic test, water content monitoring, borehole loading test, convergence measurement, and so on. In addition, we clarified applicability and future tasks of the testing method used in this research for the investigation of the long-term behavior of the EDZ.

The In-situ experiment for performance confirmation of engineered barrier system at Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory; Consideration of concrete-type plug composition

Nakayama, Masashi; Niunoya, Sumio*; Miura, Norihiko*; Takeda, Nobufumi*

JAEA-Research 2017-016, 62 Pages, 2018/01

JAEA-Research-2017-016.pdf:19.99MB

The Horonobe URL Project has being pursued by JAEA to enhance the reliability of relevant disposal technologies through investigations of the deep geological environment within the host sedimentary formation at Horonobe, Hokkaido. The URL Project consists of 2 major research areas, "Geoscientific Research" and "Research and Development on Geological Disposal Technologies", and proceeds in 3 overlapping phases, over a period of around 20 years. Phase III (Investigations in the underground facilities) investigation was started in 2010 FY. The in-situ experiment for performance confirmation of engineered barrier system (EBS experiment) had started 2013 at GL-350 m gallery, and heating by electric heater in simulated overpack had started in January, 2015. One of objectives of the EBS experiment is acquiring data concerned with THMC coupled behavior. These data will be used in order to confirm the performance of engineered barrier system. This report shows consideration of concrete-type plug composition. The low alkaline cement developed by JAEA, called HFSC, was used for the plug. HFSC has used in construction test at the gallery as shotcrete in Horonobe URL.