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Takeda, Masaki; Ishii, Eiichi
Genshiryoku Bakkuendo Kenkyu (CD-ROM), 31(1), p.3 - 10, 2024/06
Uunderstanding nuclide transport characteristics in the EDZ of disposal and access tunnels is an essential issue in the safety assessment of geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Although tracer tests are effective in evaluating the transport of nuclides in rock masses, the transport properties of EDZ in sedimentary rock, to our best knowledge, have not been investigated by in situ tracer tests. The authors conducted cross-hole tracer tests on EDZ fractures at the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory to evaluate their longitudinal dispersibility. One-dimensional advection-dispersion analyses based on the tracer test data were performed, and the longitudinal dispersibility was estimated to be 0.12 m for the test scale of 4.2 m. This longitudinal dispersibility is 1/100 to 1/10 of the test scale, comparable with the empirical relationship between the test scale and longitudinal dispersibility for natural fractures and rock matrices. The series of tracer tests and analyses reported in this paper demonstrate that advection-dispersion occurs also in EDZ fractures similarly to natural fractures and rock matrices, and that longitudinal dispersibility in EDZ fractures can be assessed also by conventional in situ tracer test methods.
Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Ishii, Eiichi
Environmental Earth Sciences, 83(3), p.98_1 - 98_15, 2024/02
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.01(Environmental Sciences)The long-term geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste relies on predictions of future changes in a disposal facility's hydro-mechanical characteristics to assess potential leakage through fractures in the excavation damaged zone (EDZ) after backfilling the facility. This study evaluated the transmissivity of EDZ fractures using in situ hydraulic tests around the area of a full-scale, experimental, engineered barrier system in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory, Hokkaido, Japan. After their installation, the buffer blocks swelled, altering the stresses within the EDZ fractures. The effects of these changing stresses on the fractures' transmissivity were assessed over a period of 4 years. The transmissivity continuously decreased in this period to about 41% of its value measured prior to the swelling. Using the Barton-Bandis normal-stress-dependent fracture-closure model, the decrease in transmissivity is quantitatively attributed to closure of the EDZ fractures, which was caused by the swelling pressure increasing up to 0.88 MPa. Evidence of fracture closure came from seismic tomography surveying, which revealed a slight increase in seismic velocity in the study area with increasing swelling pressure. The results show that EDZ fractures were closed by swelling of the full-scale buffer material. They also demonstrate the applicability of the Barton-Bandis model to preliminary estimation of the long-term transmissivity of EDZ fractures in facilities for the geological disposal of radioactive waste.
Ishii, Eiichi
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 18 Pages, 2024/00
Low-permeability rock is suitable as a host rock of an underground repository for radioactive waste disposal, but small faults may develop there. Investigating the shear capabilities (= shear compliances) of those faults is crucial as they could elastically shear by the waste's thermal effect to damage to the waste's engineered barriers. The present study performed constant-head step injection tests combined with a recently developed packer-pressure-based extensometer method for assessing the applicability of this method as a method to investigate the shear capabilities of small faults. Two neighboring small faults (faults A and B) in a siliceous mudstone were tested. The results showed that the shear capability is high for fault A with centimeters-thick fault breccia but low for fault B with millimeters or less-thick faut breccia despite containing an incohesive fault rock. As for fault A, an elastic shear displacement occurred during injection and reached to 15-66 mm when the test-section pressure increased from 4.1 MPa to 4.3 MPa, where the shear capability was on the order of 10
mm/MPa or more. Fault B had a cohesion, and no shear displacement was detected even when the test-section pressure increased from 4.0 MPa to 6.0 MPa; the shear capability was on the order of 10
mm/MPa or less. The estimated shear capabilities were consistent with results from previous laboratory experiments, and the applied method is useful to investigate the shear capabilities of small faults.
Mochizuki, Akihito; Ishii, Eiichi
Applied Geochemistry, 155, p.105737_1 - 105737_15, 2023/08
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.01(Geochemistry & Geophysics)Understanding the difference in groundwater flow between glacial and interglacial periods is crucial for predicting the impact of future climate changes on groundwater movement. This study assesses the difference in groundwater flow between the last glacial period (LGP) and the postglacial period (PGP) in fractured mudstones of the Horonobe area, Japan, by combining the data for stable isotopes (
D and 
O) and Cl
concentration of fracture and pore waters with radiocarbon (
C) age. The isotopic compositions of fractures and pore waters indicate that groundwater at 28
250 m deep in a borehole closest to the recharge area comprises meteoric water, recharged under the same climates as the present. The fracture water has isotopic compositions more similar to meteoric water than the matrix pore water near the fracture. The C age of fracture water suggests meteoric water recharge during the PGP. At greater depths in the borehole and sampling points in other boreholes, the isotopic compositions indicate the mixing of glacial meteoric and altered connate water, with the fracture water having comparable isotopic compositions with the matrix pore water. The recharge timing of meteoric water is inferred to be the LGP or before based on C dating. These results suggest that the meteoric water recharged during the PGP flows at a shallow depth, whereas the meteoric water recharged during the LGP intruded to greater depths. This result is consistent with previous inferences from surface geophysical and geological surveys that the depths of local valleys during the LGP were greater by 
50 m than the present ones and enhanced the downward hydraulic gradient. Combining the chemical and isotopic compositions of groundwater with C age helps assess the groundwater flow during the LGP and PGP in fractured rocks.
Abe, Takeyasu; Iida, Yoshihisa; Sasamoto, Hiroshi; Ishii, Eiichi
Proceedings of Water-Rock Interaction (WRI-17)/ Applied Isotope Geochemistry (AIG-14), 6 Pages, 2023/08
Cation exchange is one of important elementary reactions among water-rock interactions in sedimentary rocks. In order to model non-constant Na-K-Ca-Mg-H exchange selectivity of sedimentary rocks, exchange isotherms and pH dependence on cation exchange capacity of smectite were analyzed following active fraction model. As the result of comparison of exchangeable cationic composition between measured and calculated, selectivity coefficients determined in this study were preferred to those presented by previous studies. Using the coefficients and groundwater hydrochemistry reported previously, expected compositions of exchangeable cations were calculated. The results suggested that pH and total Na-K-Ca-Mg-H concentration of groundwater are important factors to interpret observed compositional variation in exchangeable base cations.
Ishii, Eiichi
Hydrogeology Journal, 31(4), p.893 - 911, 2023/06
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.00(Geosciences, Multidisciplinary)Major inflows can occur during tunnel/shaft excavations in faulted/fractured rock masses even if pre-excavation grouted. In such cases, post-excavation grouting may be required for reducing the inflows. However, following the diffusion equation for fluid pressure, inflows can naturally reduce to half to one-tenth within the first several days to several weeks when the flow dimensions of the surrounding rock masses are closed to one, while the inflows hardly reduce when the flow dimensions are as high as three. Thus, if the flow dimensions are closed to one, the natural reductions in inflow may be also effectively available for the countermeasures. Nevertheless, the usability of relationship between changes in inflow and flow dimensions has been poorly verified at actual tunnel/shaft-excavation sites. Actual inflows may be strongly affected by different factors including grouting, degassing, excavation processes, and far-field boundary conditions. The author analyzed changes in inflow at six locations where major inflows occurred during tunnel/shaft excavations in faulted/fractured siliceous rocks and investigated flow dimensions in the rocks by packer tests in boreholes. The results confirmed that the inflows for several days to several weeks immediately after the inflows occurred change consistently with the flow dimensions estimated from the packer tests. Thus, even if major inflows were encountered during excavations, the subsequent changes in inflow are predictable based on the flow dimensions, and the flow dimensions can be estimated by preliminary packer tests or from the changes in inflow at the inflow locations for the first several days.
Ozaki, Yusuke; Ishii, Eiichi
Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2023/05
This study aims to verify the estimated hydrogeological model by simulating the monitoring data of pore pressure for longer than 14 years around Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL). A previous study estimated hydrogeological structure around the URL by simulating the monitoring data for 1 year. The subsequent monitoring data of hydraulic head at the same location enabled to validate the hydrogeological structure.
Mochizuki, Akihito; Ishii, Eiichi
Isotope News, (784), p.23 - 27, 2022/12
no abstracts in English
Ishii, Eiichi
International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 159, p.105229_1 - 105229_17, 2022/11
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：53.35(Engineering, Geological)In an underground repository for high-level radioactive waste disposal, fracture transmissivity in an excavation damaged zone (EDZ) along tunnels or deposition holes can decrease during the post-closure period via processes such as self-sealing by clay-swelling at the EDZ's fracture surface or an increase in effective normal stress acting on the fractures owing to swelling of backfilling or buffer materials. Hydromechanical coupling models for the stress-dependence of fracture transmissivity are helpful to estimate the change in an EDZ's fracture transmissivity after closure. The applicability of the applied models should be confirmed by in situ tests at the given site; this appears to be facilitated by using constant-head step injection tests. However, injection testing is rarely applied to EDZ fractures. To investigate the applicability of injection tests, the present study performed them on single, tensile EDZ fractures in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory hosted by poorly swelling mudstone. Furthermore, the Barton-Bandis normal stress-dependent fracture-closure model quantified the stress-dependence of EDZ facture transmissivity. The fracture's hydraulic aperture increased gradually during injection, and its variation was well reproduced by fitting the model. Although the model requires the normal stress, this parameter was reasonably estimated by the fitting analyses. Constant-head step injection tests coupled with the Barton-Bandis model is believed to be a convenient method for preliminarily quantifying or verifying the stress dependence of EDZ fracture transmissivity, at least for poorly self-sealed, tensile EDZ-fractures.
Ono, Hirokazu; Ishii, Eiichi
Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 31, p.100317_1 - 100317_9, 2022/09
Times Cited Count：5 Percentile：63.89(Energy & Fuels)Ozaki, Yusuke; Ishii, Eiichi; Sugawara, Kentaro*
Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 31, p.100311_1 - 100311_13, 2022/09
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：44.95(Energy & Fuels)This study analyzed the long-term hydraulic pressure data during the excavation of Horonobe URL to estimate the variation of effective-hydraulic-conductivity. We performed the numerical simulation with the poroelastic effect for the estimation because the observed hydraulic pressure is highly affected by the Mandel-Cryer effect. The evaluation of the observed data based on our simulation results showed that the effective-hydraulic-conductivity gradually decreases from 400 m to 500 m in depth and is as low as the intact rock at depths greater than 500 m. Not only the analysis based on our simulation results but also the analysis based on analytical solution indicate the domain with different hydraulic properties in the Wakkanai Formation. These results suggest that the fracture-hydraulic-connectivity changes not abruptly but gradually over several tens of meters around the predicted boundary.
Honda, Norihisa; Dei, Shuntaro; Ishii, Eiichi
JAEA-Data/Code 2022-002, 37 Pages, 2022/06
JAEA-Data-Code-2022-002.pdf:2.85MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2022-002-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:5.68MB
Long-term monitoring of pore pressure/groundwater level has been performed at the deep boreholes HDB-1-11 and PB-V01 and seven shallow boreholes in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project. This report summarizes the results obtained from the starts of monitoring to March 2021.
Mochizuki, Akihito; Ishii, Eiichi
Hydrogeology Journal, 30(3), p.813 - 827, 2022/05
Times Cited Count：4 Percentile：54.83(Geosciences, Multidisciplinary)Assessment of the level of activity of advective transport through faults and fractures is essential for guiding the geological disposal of radioactive waste. In this study, the advective flow (active, inactive) of meteoric water through fractures is assessed by comparing stable isotopes (D and O) between fracture and pore waters obtained from four boreholes in marine deposits in the Horonobe area, Japan. At 27-83-m depth in one borehole and 28-250 m in another, the isotopic compositions of pore and fracture water reflect mixing with meteoric water, with stronger meteoric-water signatures being observed in the fracture water than in pore water of the rock matrix. At greater depths in these boreholes and at all sampling depths in the other two studied boreholes, the isotopic compositions of fracture and pore waters are comparable. These results suggest that the advective flow of meteoric water is active at shallow depths where fossil seawater is highly diluted in the two boreholes. This interpretation is compatible with the occurrence of present or paleo meteoric waters and tritium, whereby present meteoric water and tritium are limited to those depths in the two boreholes. This difference in the level of activity of advective flow is probably because of the glacial-interglacial difference in hydraulic gradients resulting from sea-level change. Although fractures are hydraulically connected to the surface through the sedimentary rock, advective flow through them is inferred to remain inactive so long as sea level does not fall substantially.
Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Ishii, Eiichi; Chen, Y.*; Ishida, Tsuyoshi*
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 55(4), p.1855 - 1869, 2022/04
Times Cited Count：4 Percentile：55.40(Engineering, Geological)Safety assessments related to the long-term migration of radionuclides in high-level radioactive waste disposal repositories need to consider the evolution of permeability associated with excavation-damaged-zone (EDZ) fractures. We observed EDZ fractures preserved by resin injection around a gallery in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory in Japan with the aim of assessing the sensitivity of aperture to shear displacement (i.e., dilation angle) in EDZ fractures. To date, shear displacement along EDZ fractures has not been quantified despite its importance for estimating the evolution of fracture aperture around excavations after the repository is backfilled. Enlarged photographs of EDZ fractures fixed by resin were examined to obtain reliable and accurate measurements of the shear displacement and aperture of EDZ fractures without additional disturbance. Measured shear displacement and fracture aperture are poorly correlated, meaning that fracture aperture is insensitive to shear displacement after fracture formation. This insensitivity is closely reproduced by a previously reported empirical relationship and is attributed to the relatively high levels of normal stress acting on fracture surfaces at 350 m depth, which suppress shear-induced dilatation. Considering this insensitivity between fracture aperture and shear displacement, shear-induced dilation of EDZ fractures is estimated to be negligible even if the fractures are shear-displaced after the repository is backfilled, so long as the normal stress acting on fracture surfaces does not reduce substantially. The applied resin injection and fracture observations constitute a useful tool for helping to assess the likelihood of shear-induced dilation after the repository is backfilled.
Muraoka, Ami*; Chiyonobu, Shun*; Arato, Hiroyuki*; Martizzi, P.*; Ishii, Eiichi
Sekiyu Gijutsu Kyokai-shi (CD-ROM), 87(1), p.86 - 88, 2022/00
no abstracts in English
Ishii, Eiichi
Engineering Geology, 294, p.106369_1 - 106369_12, 2021/12
Times Cited Count：10 Percentile：68.63(Engineering, Geological)The transmissivities (T) of fractures can be related to the fracture roughness (
), initial aperture (
), effective normal stress (
'
), and the tensile strength ('
) of the intact rock, based on the Barton-Bandis model and their data, and the T (or ) can increase by shear-induced dilation. Previous studies revealed that the T of fractures in fault zones, detected as flow anomalies by borehole investigations at six sites, uniformly decreases with the increasing effective mean stress normalized to the '. If this uniform change in T can be explained by '-dependent fracture-normal-displacement following the Baron-Bandis model, the T represents the highest potential T of fractures in fault zones which can increase by shear-induced dilation. To verify this possibility, this study estimated the of the fractures using the T, ', and possible 
and '. Then, using this estimated , the changes in T were simulated, varying '. The results well reproduced the observed uniform change in T.
Sakai, Toshihiro; Ishii, Eiichi
JAEA-Data/Code 2021-009, 13 Pages, 2021/08
JAEA-Data-Code-2021-009.pdf:1.9MBJAEA-Data-Code-2021-009-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:42.79MB
Japan Atomic Energy Agency is performing the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project, which includes a scientific study of the deep geological environment as a basis of research and development for the geological disposal of high level radioactive wastes, in order to establish comprehensive techniques for the investigation, analysis and assessment of the deep geological environment in the sedimentary rock. The numerical data of 3D geological model in regional-scale was compiled in 2019 as JAEA-Data/Code 2019-007, and then this report updates a part of the numerical data of 3D geological model around the underground facilities.
Ozaki, Yusuke; Ishii, Eiichi; Sugawara, Kentaro*
Extended abstract of International Conference on Coupled Processes in Fractured Geological Media; Observation, Modeling, and Application (CouFrac 2020) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2020/11
We perform the numerical simulation of the response of hydraulic head observed in HDB-6 during the excavation of the Horonobe URL to verify the existence of low effective permeable domain in the subsurface. The low permeable domain as an intact rock due to the low hydraulic fracture connectivity is estimated to exist in the deep domain while the permeability of the shallow domain is relatively high due to the hydraulic fracture connectivity there. Our simulation shows that the observed hydraulic head is affected by the Mandel-Cryer effect due to the hydrogeological structure and the effect for the duration of over years requires the low permeability as an intact rock in the deep domain. These results verify the existence of the low effective permeable domain in the deep subsurface estimated by the previous study.
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
Ishii, Eiichi
Engineering Geology, 275, p.105748_1 - 105748_12, 2020/09
Times Cited Count：8 Percentile：46.66(Engineering, Geological)A constant-head step injection test using a conventional straddle-packer system was performed for a normal fault in siliceous mudstone. The test applied a new method whereby axial displacements of isolated test sections in a borehole during injection are monitored by measuring the pressures of sliding packers and the pore pressure in the test section. The measured pressures and axial displacement, and the injection flow rate, were used to estimate the hydraulic aperture, shear displacement, normal compliance, normal stress, shear stiffness and hydraulic dilation angle of the fault during the test. The injection successfully yielded a large shear displacement during normal faulting of up to 13.3-49.5 mm (including the estimation error), which left residual shear displacement of 2.8-10.4 mm after a remarkable shear-slip event. The shear stiffness during faulting is estimated to be 2.3 
10
to 8.4 10 Pa m (considering the estimation error), which is consistent with empirically predicted values based on previous studies. The hydraulic dilation angle was inferred to be effectively zero as the residual shear displacement did not leave any increase in hydraulic aperture. The experimental method applied here does not require specialized equipment and could aid in the investigation of the hydromechanical behavior of subsurface fractures or aquifers.
