Description:

• Multi-barrier concept; groundwater hydrology, mathematical modeling of mass transport in heterogenous media, source term for far-field model; near-field chemical environment, radionuclide release from waste solids, modeling of radionuclide transport in the near field, effect of temperature on repository performance, effect of water flow, effect of geochemical conditions, effect of engineered barrier alteration; overall performance assessment, performance index, uncertainty associated with assessment, regulation and standards.
  

Prerequisites:

• NE-124 or upper division course in partial differential equations

Goals:

• The primary goal of this course is to provide students with mathematical tools for safety assessment of geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste, which is considered to be one of the most difficult technologically and controversial among all types of radioactive wastes.

Course Outline:

Week-- Topics:

I. Multi-barrier concept

II. Far-field radionuclide transport
2-------------------2.1 Basics of Groundwater hydrology
3,4----------------2 2.2 Basic mechanisms of contaminant transport
5------------------2.3 Modeling of mass transport in heterogenous media
5,6----------------2.4 Source term for far-field model
7,8----------------2.5 Analysis for transport in porous media
9------------------2.6 Analysis for transport in fractured media
------------ -------2.7 Numerical methods for radionuclide transport

III. Near-field radionuclide transport
10-----------------3.1 Near-field water movement
--------------------3.2 Chemical environment
11-----------------3.3 Radionuclide release from waste solids
--------------------3.4 Basic model for Radionuclide transport in the near field
12-----------------3.5 Effect of Temperature on repository performance
--------------------3.6 Effect of water flow
13-----------------3.7 Effect of geochemical conditions
--------------------3.8 Effect of engineered barrier alteration

IV. Overall Performance Assessment
14-----------------4.1 Combining models for near-field and far-field
--------------------4.2 Performance Index
15-----------------4.3 Uncertainty associated with assessment
--------------------4.4 Regulation and Standards