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 2020 fiscal year

Nakayama, Masashi; Saiga, Atsushi

JAEA-Review 2020-022, 34 Pages, 2020/11

JAEA-Review-2020-022.pdf:3.99MB

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, "Demonstration of EBS in geological environment", "Demonstration of disposal concept", and "Validation of buffer capacity of the sedimentary rock to tectonism" are important issues of the Horonobe URL Project, and schedule of future research and backfill plans of the URL will be decided by the end of 2019 Fiscal Year. JAEA summarizes the research and development activities of the important issues carried out during the 3rd Mid- and Long-term Plan, and set out three important issues after 2020 fiscal year. After consultation with Hokkaido and Horonobe town, JAEA formulated the Horonobe underground research plan after 2020 fiscal year within the 3rd and 4th Mid- and Long-term Plan. This report summarizes the investigation program for the 2020 fiscal year (2020/2021).

Proceedings of Information and Opinion Exchange Conference on Geoscientific Study, 2019

Nishio, Kazuhisa*; Shimizu, Mayuko; Iyatomi, Yosuke; Hama, Katsuhiro

JAEA-Review 2020-013, 59 Pages, 2020/08

JAEA-Review-2020-013.pdf:19.64MB

The Tono Geoscience Center (TGC) of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting geoscientific study in order to establish a scientific and technological basis for the geological disposal of HLW. Technical information of the result on the geoscientific study conducted at TGC is provided at the annual Information and Opinion Exchange Conference on Geoscientific Study of TGC for exchanging opinions among researchers and engineers from universities, research organizations and private companies. This document compiles the research presentations and posters of the conference in Mizunami on November 20, 2019.

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.

Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project; Investigation report for the 2017 fiscal year

Hanamuro, Takahiro; Saiga, Atsushi

JAEA-Review 2018-027, 125 Pages, 2019/02

JAEA-Review-2018-027.pdf:21.79MB

The Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project is planned to extend over a period 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 results of the investigations for the 2017 fiscal year (2017/2018). The investigations, which are composed of "Geoscientific research" and "R&D on geological disposal technology", were carried out according to "Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project Investigation Program for the 2017 fiscal year". The results of these investigations, along with the results which were obtained in other departments of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), are properly offered to the implementations and the safety regulations. For the sake of this, JAEA has proceeded with the project in collaboration with experts from domestic and overseas research organizations.

Annual report for research on geosphere stability for long-term isolation of radioactive waste in fiscal year 2015

Ishimaru, Tsuneari; Umeda, Koji*; Yasue, Kenichi; Kokubu, Yoko; Niwa, Masakazu; Asamori, Koichi; Watanabe, Takahiro; Yokoyama, Tatsunori; Fujita, Natsuko; Shimizu, Mayuko; et al.

JAEA-Research 2016-023, 91 Pages, 2017/02

JAEA-Research-2016-023.pdf:13.33MB

This annual report documents the progress of research and development (R&D) in the 1st fiscal year during the JAEA 3rd Mid- and Long-term Plan (fiscal years 2015-2021) to provide the scientific base for assessing geosphere stability for long-term isolation of the high-level radioactive waste. The planned framework is structured into the following categories: (1) Development and systematization of investigation techniques, (2) Development of models for long-term estimation and effective assessment, (3) Development of dating techniques. In this paper, the current status of R&D activities with previous scientific and technological progress is summarized.

Groundwater recovery experiment in Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory; Numerical simulation of H-M coupled behavior of rock and backfill materials to evaluate the influence on the surrounding rock

Takayama, Yusuke; Sato, Toshinori; Onoe, Hironori; Iwatsuki, Teruki; Saegusa, Hiromitsu; Onuki, Kenji

Dai-43-Kai Gamban Rikigaku Ni Kansuru Shimpojiumu Koenshu (CD-ROM), p.313 - 318, 2015/01

In the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory, groundwater recovery experiment is being conducted to construct the method to understand the transition of geological environment due to groundwater recovery at the -500m access and research gallery-north. As a part of this experiment, backfill test is planned using drilling pits filled with artificial materials (clay and concrete) to evaluate the influence on the surrounding rock mass due to the interaction of rock and artificial materials. In this study, numerical simulation of the backfill test has been carried out to predict the qualitative hydro-mechanical behavior.

Numerical simulation of melting and evaporation of a cold foil target irradiated by a pre-pulse

Utsumi, Takayuki*; Matsukado, Koji*; Daido, Hiroyuki; Esirkepov, T. Z.; Bulanov, S. V.*

Applied Physics A, 79(4-6), p.1185 - 1187, 2004/09

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-004-2700-4

no abstracts in English

IAEA'97 expedition to the NW Pacific Ocean; Results of oceanographic and radionuclide investigations of the water column

Povinec, P. P.*; Livingston, H. D.*; Shima, Shigeki*; Aoyama, Michio*; Gastaud, J.*; Goroncy, I.*; Hirose, Katsumi*; Huynh-Ngoc, L.*; Ikeuchi, Yoshihiro*; Ito, Toshimichi; et al.

Deep Sea Research Part 2: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 50(17-21), p.2607 - 2637, 2003/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(03)00138-3

An international sampling cruise, IAEA'97, was carried out in 1997 in the NW Pacif1c Ocean. The main results of this study are following: (1) The levels of oceanographic parameter showed differences from the historical data, (2) Transuranics water profiles showed typical sub-surface concentration maxima with decrease in concentration by about a factor of 4 from the historical results, deepening their positions by about a factor of 2 and declining the water column inventory by about 20% over 24 years, (3) Sr-90 and Cs-137 data confirmed that the observed changes in concentration profiles have been resulting from the regional water masses circulation, and (4) The concentrations of these radionuclides in surface water after 40 years of their main introduction to the NW Pacific are still showing a latitudinal dependence. The results present the most comprehensive recent study on the distribution of radionuclides in the NW Pacific Ocean with the implications for behaviour of these radionuclides in the water column and physical forcing of water mass circulation over the last 24 years.

Numerical study of the laser-induced shock propagation with the CIP method

Utsumi, Takayuki*; Sasaki, Akira

Dai-14-Kai Suchi Ryutai Rikigaku Shimpojiumu Koen Yoshishu, 4 Pages, 2000/00

no abstracts in English