WP5 Performance assessment of plugs and seals system

Objectives

The general aim of WP5, which is lead by GRS, is to understand the implications of the plugs and seal performance on the overall safety for the whole reference period of a final waste repository of one million years. An important element of this work is to develop justification of model simplifications for long-term safety assessment simulations. The main objectives of WP 5 are to improve the state-of-the-art in process modelling and its abstraction in integrated performance assessment. More specifically the objectives can be defined as follows:
  • process modelling of the experiments performed in WP3 to gain process understanding
  • identify the main processes that are relevant and thus to be considered for predicting the short and long-term behaviour of the plug and sealing systems;
  • identify remaining uncertainties and their influence on performance assessment,
  • development and justification of conceptual models of plugs and seals for the different disposal concepts and geological environments;
  • simulation of processes and their evolution within individual sealing components;
  • further develop and apply the PA methodology and (conservative) PA models for analysing the system behaviour.

This work package will be based on, and integrate the results of from WP2 to WP4, finally providing an integrated report outlining the role of plug and seals in the safe performance of a repository.