Contribution of HADES URL to the development of the Cigéo project, the French industrial centre for geological disposal of high-level and long-lived intermediate-level radioactive waste in a deep clay formation

Gilles Armand, Frédéric Plas, Jean Talandier, Arnaud Dizier, Xiang Ling Li, Séverine Levasseur

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    In the 1980s, HADES (High-Activity Disposal Experimental Site) was the first underground research laboratory (URL) dedicated to the study of the geological disposal of radioactive waste in a deep clay formation, the Boom Clay. It was not until the early 2000s, after a siting process, that ANDRA implemented the Meuse/Haute-Marne URL, in the Callovo-Oxfordian formation at a depth of about 500 m in order to develop the Cigéo project (French industrial centre for geological disposal). ANDRA therefore relied heavily on the work carried out in HADES, through numerous co-operation projects (participation in in situ experiments) both between ANDRA and ONDRAF/NIRAS and SCK CEN (EURIDICE) and/or with Mont Terri consortium, and within European projects (CLIPEX, RESEAL, etc.). This was driven by a dual objective: (1) to prepare its own experimental programmes in the Meuse/Haute-Marne underground laboratory (methodology, experimental devices and protocols, etc.); and (2) to acquire general knowledge on the behaviour of argillaceous rocks, in particular in terms of similarity and differences between the various argillaceous rocks. This paper illustrates the contribution of HADES to the ANDRA programme. This concerns the characterization of the claystone behaviour, host rock and swelling clay-based seals (hydromechanical, thermo-hydromechanical, excavation damaged zone, etc.), and the design and the behaviour of underground structures and seals in deep clay formation (constructability, lining/support, etc.).
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number98
    Number of pages20
    JournalGeological Society, London, Special Publications
    Volume536
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StateE-pub ahead of print - 27 Feb 2023
    Event2022 - Exchange Meeting HADES40 - Dessel
    Duration: 9 Dec 20229 Dec 2022

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