High-Temperature and Seismic Response of Concrete Lining Structures and Clay in Nuclear Waste

The project’s total funding request is $498,770 for three years (9/2022-9/2025). Nuclear waste disposal in a deep geological repository is a prevailing approach for the long-term management of high- and intermediate-level radioactive waste and spent fuel. Facilitating an accurate safety assessment and long-term prediction of nuclear waste disposal in a deep geological repository requires a deep and comprehensive understanding and tools for characterizing the complex interaction between the concrete lining structure and underground clay in a deep geological repository at high temperature and under seismic hazards. The project’s objectives are (1) to develop new constitutive models of concrete lining structure and clay to reflect thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes in a deep geological repository, (2) to understand and reveal the mechanism of thermal spalling of concrete and mechanical behavior and failure of concrete lining structure and clay at high temperature, and (3) to develop a tool for conducting safety assessment (the contact problem and the damaged zone) between the concrete lining structures and the underground clay at high temperatures and under seismic loading for nuclear waste disposal in a deep geological repository.