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B+Tech Oy conducts pioneering research in Finland – investigations on bentonite clays play an essential role in the development of a solution for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel
The copper-iron canister with long rated
service life and the bentonite clay buffer between the rock and the canister
together form a significant part of the solution for final disposal of spent
nuclear fuel. The encapsulation technology has been developed this decade,
largely in cooperation with the Swedish nuclear waste management company SKB.
In the next few years, efforts will focus on the bentonite buffer. More
information is needed for the purposes of the safety case to be enclosed to the
construction licence application for the final disposal repository. A company
has been founded specifically to conduct this research: B+Tech Oy, which is the
only Finnish company specialising in studies regarding the bentonite clay
utilised in the final disposal solution.
Helsinki-based B+Tech Oy provides experts and
expertise in matters related to the behaviour of bentonite clays and possibly
also other clay materials. B+Tech will for its part ensure that enough
knowledge and trained experts are available in Finland to carry out the
engineering design of the final disposal solution and to prove the performance
of the bentonite buffer.
B+Tech Oy concluded a cooperation agreement with Posiva Oy in November 2008.
The objective of the cooperation agreement is to ensure that the required
knowledge of the properties of bentonite and the experience in its use will be
available in time for the purposes of final disposal.
Bentonite is used in the final disposal repository as a protective layer round
the fuel canisters. The safety of the final disposal of spent fuel is based on
several engineered and natural barriers and the bentonite buffer is of special
significance, particularly should one of the other barriers be damaged against
all expectations.
In the summer of 2008, B+Tech inaugurated a research laboratory, which is
believed to be the only laboratory in the world designed solely for bentonite
research. The scientists at B+Tech study e.g. the chemical composition and
characteristics of expanding bentonite clay and how it behaves in the final
disposal conditions, particularly in interaction with groundwater, iron and
cement.
B+Tech Oy was founded in 2007 and the operation of the company started at the
beginning of 2008. At present B+Tech employs nine people. The company is owned
by a Finnish engineering consultancy company Saanio&Riekkola Oy and a
Swedish company ClayTechnology Ab.