Development of a reactive transport code MC-CEMENT ver.2 and its verification using 15-year concrete/clay interactions at the Tournemire URL

Yamaguchi, Tetsuji; Kataoka, Masaharu; Sawaguchi, Takuma; Mukai, Masayuki; Hoshino, Seiichi; Tanaka, Tadao; Marsal, F.*; Pellegrini, D.*

Clay Minerals, 48(2), p.185 - 197, 2013/05

https://doi.org/10.1180/claymin.2013.048.2.03

Highly alkaline environments induced by cement based materials are likely to deteriorate the physical and/or chemical properties of the bentonite buffer materials in radioactive waste repositories. Predicting long-term alteration of concrete/clay systems requires physico-chemical models and a number of input parameters. In order to provide reliability to the long-term prediction of bentonite buffer performance under disposal conditions, it is necessary to develop and verify reactive transport codes for concrete/clay systems. In this study, a PHREEQC-based, reactive transport analysis code (MC-CEMENT ver.2) was developed and was verified by comparing results of the calculations with observations of the mineralogical evolution at the concrete/argillite interface. The calculation reproduced the observations such as the mineralogical changes limited within one cm in thickness, formation of CaCO and CSH, dissolution of quartz, decrease of porosity in argillite and increase in concrete. These agreements indicate possibility that the models based on lab-scale ( 1 y) experiments can be applied to longer time scale. The fact that the calculation did not reproduce the dissolution of clays and the formation of gypsum indicates that there is still room for improvement in our model.