Mineralogical, physical and chemical investigation of compacted Kunigel V1 bentonite in contact with a steel heater in the ABM test package 1 experiment, sp Laboratory, Sweden

Sasamoto, Hiroshi   ; Isogai, Takeshi*; Kikuchi, Hirohito*; Sato, Hisao*; Svensson, D.*

Compacted bentonite has been considered as a candidate of engineering barrier material in many countries for the safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste. SKB set up an in situ experiment (named ABM project) to compare the stability of different bentonites under the conditions exposed to an iron source and elevated temperature (up to 130C as maximum) at the sp Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden. Results for the Japanese bentonite (Kunigel V1) are summarized in the present paper. Mineralogical investigation using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) suggested that no indication of smectite transformation or newly formed clay phases were observed. However, a distinct change of exchangeable cations of smectite was indicated (i.e., from Na type to Fe type) in the bentonite at the vicinity of the steel heater. Physical investigation by measurements of hydraulic conductivity and swelling property suggested that no significant change occur in the bentonite even at the vicinity of the steel heater. Such results might be considered due to the limited portion affected by the iron-bentonite interactions and partially occurred ion exchange reactions. Chemical investigation based on the measurements of methylane blue (MB), cation exchange capacity (CEC) and exchangeable cations showed that the lateral distribution for these parameters were basically constant without the significant gradient.