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Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kashiwaya, Koki*; Oketani, Kazuki*; Fujii, Hirokazu*; Zhao, Y.*; Kato, Masaji*; Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Ozaki, Yusuke; Matsui, Hiroya; Kono, Masanori*
Zairyo, 73(3), p.220 - 225, 2024/03
The fractures in the rock are the main pass of groundwater flow and solute transport. The filling of fine-grained particle, such as clay minerals, was confirmed to decrease the permeability of rock by laboratory experiment. This research aimed to verify the occurance of the phoenomena in the fild. The water containing the clay minerals was injected into the rock at the 200m stage of the Mizunami undearground research laboratory. The hydraulic conductivity decreased two order before and after the injection. This result suggested that the decrease of hydraulic conductivity by the filling of fine-grained particle in the fractures occured in the real field.
Nakayama, Masashi
JAEA-Review 2023-032, 159 Pages, 2024/02
JAEA-Review-2023-032.pdf:19.37MB
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 2022, we continued R&D on "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". These are identified as key R&D on challenges to be tackled in the Horonobe underground research plan for the fiscal year 2020 onwards. 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 100
C" 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 Horonobe International Project (HIP) was initiated in February 2023 to promote research and development in collaboration with national and international organizations.
Takeuchi, Ryuji; Kokubu, Yoko; Nishio, Kazuhisa*
JAEA-Data/Code 2023-014, 118 Pages, 2024/02
JAEA-Data-Code-2023-014.pdf:4.77MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2023-014-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:249.03MB
The Tono Geoscience Center of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting the groundwater pressure and hydro-chemical monitoring to confirm the restoration process of the surrounding geological environment associated with the backfilling of shafts and tunnels of Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU). This report summarizes the data of the groundwater pressure and hydro-chemical monitoring from boreholes and forth at and around the MIU conducted in FY2022. In addition, unreported hydro-chemical monitoring data from the boreholes and forth at the MIU conducted in FY2021 were also compiled.
Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Ishii, Eiichi
Environmental Earth Sciences, 83(3), p.98_1 - 98_15, 2024/02
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.04(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.
Hata, Koji*; Niunoya, Sumio*; Aoyagi, Kazuhei; Miyara, Nobukatsu*
Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 16(2), p.365 - 378, 2024/02
Excavation of underground caverns, such as mountain tunnels and energy-storage caverns, may cause the damages to the surrounding rock as a result of the stress redistribution. In this influenced zone, new cracks and discontinuities are created or propagate in the rock mass. Therefore, it is effective to measure and evaluate the acoustic emission (AE) events generated by the rocks, which is a small elastic vibration, and permeability change. The authors have developed a long-term measurement device that incorporates an optical AE (O-AE) sensor, an optical pore pressure sensor, and an optical temperature sensor in a single multi-optical measurement probe (MOP). Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been conducting R&D activities to enhance the reliability of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) deep geological disposal technology. In a high-level radioactive disposal project, one of the challenges is the development of methods for long-term monitoring of rock mass behavior. Therefore, in January 2014, the long-term measurements of the hydro-mechanical behavior of the rock mass were launched using the developed MOP in the vicinity of 350 m below the surface at the Horonobe Underground Research Center. The measurement results show that AEs occur frequently up to 1.5 m from the wall during excavation. In addition, hydraulic conductivity increased by 2 to 4 orders of magnitude. Elastoplastic analysis revealed that the hydraulic behavior of the rock mass affected the pore pressure fluctuations and caused micro-fractures. Based on this, a conceptual model is developed to represent the excavation damaged zone (EDZ), which contributes to the safe geological disposal of radioactive waste.
Takeuchi, Ryuji; Nishio, Kazuhisa*; Kokubu, Yoko
JAEA-Data/Code 2023-013, 74 Pages, 2024/01
JAEA-Data-Code-2023-013.pdf:4.2MB
The Tono Geoscience Center of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting the environmental monitoring investigation to confirm the environmental impacts associated with the backfilling of shafts and tunnels at the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU). This report summarizes the results of the environmental impact investigations conducted as part of the environmental monitoring investigation around the MIU Site in FY2022, which include groundwater level measurement in wells, river flow rate measurement, water analysis of Hazama river, noise and vibration surveys, and soil survey.
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.
Mikake, Shinichiro
Chikasui Gakkai-Shi, 65(4), p.323 - 331, 2023/11
no abstracts in English
Miyakawa, Kazuya; Hayano, Akira; Sato, Naomi; Nakata, Kotaro*; Hasegawa, Takuma*
JAEA-Data/Code 2023-009, 103 Pages, 2023/09
JAEA-Data-Code-2023-009.pdf:9.29MBJAEA-Data-Code-2023-009-appendix1(DVD-ROM).zip:271.51MBJAEA-Data-Code-2023-009-appendix2(DVD-ROM).zip:883.78MBJAEA-Data-Code-2023-009-appendix3(DVD-ROM).zip:10.29MB
This borehole investigation was carried out to confirm the validity of the distribution of low flow areas deep underground estimated based on the geophysical survey in FY 2020, as a part of an R&D supporting program titled "Research and development on Groundwater Flow Evaluation Technology in Bedrock" under contract to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (2021, 2022 FY, Grant Number: JPJ007597). The borehole name is Horonobe Fossil seawater Boring-1 and is referred to as HFB-1 borehole. HFB-1 is a vertical borehole drilled adjacent to the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL), which was drilled from the surface to a depth of 200 m in FY2021 and from a depth of 200 m to 500 m in FY2022. This report summarizes information related to the drilling of HFB-1 and various data (rock core description, geophysical logging, chemical analysis, etc.) obtained from the borehole investigation.
Ozaki, Yusuke; Ono, Hirokazu; Aoyagi, Kazuhei
Shigen, Sozai Koenshu (Internet), 6 Pages, 2023/09
In the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory, the in-situ experiment for performance confirmation of engineered barrier system was performed at the 350 m stage to develop the technology for geological disposal. Several measurements have been conducted in and around the test drift to investigate the time dependent impact of the experiment on the rock and backfilled tunnel. Some measurement results are introduced in this presentation.
Takeuchi, Ryuji; Mikake, Shinichiro; Ikeda, Koki; Nishio, Kazuhisa*; Kokubu, Yoko; Hanamuro, Takahiro
JAEA-Review 2023-007, 114 Pages, 2023/07
JAEA-Review-2023-007.pdf:12.02MB
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) at Tono Geoscience Center has been conducting the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU) Project to enhance the reliability of geological disposal technologies through investigations of the deep geological environment in the crystalline rock (granite) at Mizunami City, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan since fiscal year 1996. Backfilling and restoration works in the MIU site have been being conducted based on "the MIU Project from FY2020 onwards" which is defined the way forward of backfilling and restoration works and environmental monitoring investigations in the MIU site, since fiscal year 2020. This report summarizes the outline, process, and achievements of the construction and the safety patrol of the backfilling and restoration works in the MIU site performed from May 16, 2020 to January 16, 2022.
Dei, Shuntaro
JAEA-Data/Code 2023-008, 49 Pages, 2023/07
JAEA-Data-Code-2023-008.pdf:5.41MBJAEA-Data-Code-2023-008-appendix(CD-ROM).zip:7.08MB
Japan Atomic Energy Agency had been conducting "geoscientific study" and "research and development on geological disposal" in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL) for safe geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. In the Horonobe underground research project for FY 2020 and subsequent years, the pressure and water quality of groundwater have been continuously monitored using monitoring systems in order to obtain the data necessary for conducting the remaining important issues. This report presents groundwater pressure which have been obtained from April 2019 to March 2022 by the monitoring systems installed at the 140 m and 350 m gallery.
Ozaki, Yusuke
Rock Mechanics Bulletin (Internet), 2(3), p.100057_1 - 100057_12, 2023/07
In this study, a series of data repeatedly acquired by first arrival traveltime tomography for seven years was analyzed to investigate the time-lapse behavior of excavation damaged zone (EDZ) at 350 m stage in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory. The data was highly affected by the shotcrete on the drift wall, and a priori information on the structure of shotcrete was incorporated into the inversion process to alleviate the effect. In addition, time-lapse inversion was applied to trace the change in P-wave velocity in time. Our inversion results indicated that time dependent change of EDZ was not recognized under open-drift condition during the period in the site.
MethanoperedenaceaeNishimura, Hiroki*; Kozuka, Mariko*; Fukuda, Akari*; Ishimura, Toyoho*; Amano, Yuki; Beppu, Hikari*; Miyakawa, Kazuya; Suzuki, Yohei*
Environmental Microbiology Reports (Internet), 15(3), p.197 - 205, 2023/06
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：59.23(Environmental Sciences)The family Methanoperedenaceae archaea mediate anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). We newly developed a high-pressure laboratory incubation system and investigated groundwater from 214- and 249-m deep boreholes at Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory, Japan, where the high and low abundances of Methanoperedenaceae archaea have been revealed, respectively. We incubated the samples amended with or without amorphous Fe(III) and 
C-labelled methane at an in-situ pressure of 1.6 MPa. After three to seven-day incubation, AOM activities were not detected from the 249-m sample but from the 214-m sample. The AOM rates were 93.7
40.6 and 27.737.5 nM/day with and without Fe(III) amendment. Suspended particulates were not visible in the 249-m sample on the filter, while they were abundant and contained amorphous Fe(III) and Fe(III)-bearing phyllosilicates in the 214-m sample. This supports the in-situ activity of Fe(III)-dependent AOM in the deep subsurface borehole.
Murakami, Hiroaki; Nishiyama, Nariaki; Takeuchi, Ryuji; Iwatsuki, Teruki
Oyo Chishitsu, 64(2), p.60 - 69, 2023/06
In order to confirm the quality control items for borehole closure in radioactive waste disposal projects, in-situ borehole sealing tests using bentonite material were conducted. As a result, the closure performance was successfully demonstrated by comparing the data of water injection tests conducted before and after the installation of the closure material. However, the breakthrough was observed after closing, probably due to high differential pressure applied to the seal section. Thus, it is important to ascertain throughout the entire operation that the borehole is adequately closed. The placement and specifications of the closure material should be determined according to the hydrogeological structure in the borehole. The confirmation items to use bentonite for sealing material are identified to be: to consider swelling and density loss in the borehole; to place the planned depth using appropriate emplacement technique; to be placed without damage to seals when use some backfilling materials, considering effect of permeability on adjacent seals.
Miyakawa, Kazuya; Nakata, Kotaro*
JAEA-Data/Code 2022-013, 19 Pages, 2023/03
JAEA-Data-Code-2022-013.pdf:1.88MB
In the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL) project, groundwater chemistry was analyzed to investigate changes due to the excavation of the underground facility and to review geochemical models until the fiscal year 2019. From the fiscal year 2020, to proceed remaining important issues deduced from the conclusion of the investigations during the fiscal year 2015-2019, primary data such as groundwater chemistry need to be successively acquired. Here, the chemical analysis of 54 groundwater samples in 2022 from boreholes drilled in the 140 m, 250 m, 350 m gallery in the Horonobe URL, and water rings settled in three vertical shafts is presented. Analytical results include groundwater chemistry such as pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved components (Na
, K, Ca
, Mg, Li, NH
, F
, Cl, Br, NO
, NO
, PO
, SO
, Total-Mn, Total-Fe, Al, B, Sr, Ba, I, alkalinity, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved inorganic carbon, CO, HCO, Fe, sulfide), and 
O, D along with a detailed description of analytical methods.
Takeuchi, Ryuji; Nishio, Kazuhisa*; Hanamuro, Takahiro; Kokubu, Yoko
JAEA-Data/Code 2022-010, 110 Pages, 2023/03
JAEA-Data-Code-2022-010.pdf:6.2MB
The Tono Geoscience Center of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting the environmental monitoring investigation to confirm the environmental impacts associated with the backfilling of shafts and tunnels at the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU). This report summarizes the results of environmental impact investigations conducted as part of the environmental monitoring investigation around the MIU Site from FY2020 to FY2021, which include groundwater level measurement in wells, river flow rate measurement, water analysis of Hazama river, noise and vibration surveys, and soil survey.
Mizuno, Takashi; Suzuki, Yohei*; Milodowski, A. E.*; Iwatsuki, Teruki
Applied Geochemistry, 150, p.105571_1 - 105571_11, 2023/03
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：62.05(Geochemistry & Geophysics)Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) affects both the redox conditions and carbon cycle in groundwater. However, examples of studies on crystalline rock deep in terrestrial subsurface as well as the potential host rock for geological disposal are few. Therefore, we conducted a paleohydrogeological study on fracture-filling calcite in the Toki Granite. The O
value (-32.7 to -0.59 permil) revealed that the groundwater that precipitated the calcite was groundwater derived from hydrothermal fluid, freshwater that came from the surface, and seawater that penetrated during marine transgression. On the other hand, C (-56.6 to 6.0 permil) was wider than the isotopic range of DIC that originated from hydrothermal, freshwater, and seawater sources (-25 to 2 permil). Calcite with C that was lighter than -25 permil was believed to have precipitated DIC, which was provided by AOM. In contrast to previous studies, the Mizunami AOM calcite was precipitated in a freshwater environment, indicating that various processes could have generated AOM in crystalline rocks deep in the terrestrial subsurface.
Takeuchi, Ryuji; Murakami, Hiroaki; Nishio, Kazuhisa*
JAEA-Data/Code 2022-008, 184 Pages, 2023/01
JAEA-Data-Code-2022-008.pdf:8.2MBJAEA-Data-Code-2022-008-appendix1(DVD-ROM).zip:327.79MBJAEA-Data-Code-2022-008-appendix2(DVD-ROM).zip:284.46MB
The Tono Geoscience Center of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting the groundwater pressure and hydro-chemical monitoring to confirm the restoration process of the surrounding geological environment associated with the backfilling of shafts and tunnels of Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory. This report summarizes the results of the groundwater pressure and hydro-chemical monitoring conducted from FY2020 to FY2021.
Miyakawa, Kazuya; Kashiwaya, Koki*; Komura, Yuto*; Nakata, Kotaro*
Geochemical Journal, 57(5), p.155 - 175, 2023/00
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.01(Geochemistry & Geophysics)In the thick marine sediments, groundwater altered from seawater during the burial diagenesis may exist. Such altered ancient seawater will be called fossil seawater. In such a field, groundwater flow is considered extremely slow because it is not affected by the seepage of meteoric water even after the uplift. During diagenesis, dehydration from silicates causes changes such as a decrease in the salinity of the porewater. However, dehydration reactions alone cannot quantitatively explain water chemistry changes. In this study, we developed an analytical model that considers the dehydration reaction from silicates during the burial process and the upward migration of porewater due to compaction and examined the possible evolution of porewater chemistry. The results showed that the water chemistry, which was strongly influenced by the dehydration reaction from opal-A to quartz and from smectite, was similar to the observations from boring surveys. The results suggest that the fossil seawater formed during the diagenesis may have been preserved since the uplift and strongly supports the slow groundwater flow in the area where the fossil seawater exists.
