RESEAL-II. A large scale in situ demonstration test for repository sealing in an argillaceous host rock - phase II: Final report on laboratory tests (WP1) - reporting period September 2000 - May 2005

The RESEAL project aims at demonstrating the sealing of a borehole and a shaft with bentonite in plastic clay. The RESEAL project includes the selection of the sealing material, the development of the seal installation technique, the monitoring of the borehole and the shaft sealing tests and the modelling of the main processes and phenomena observed during the tests. These demonstration tests are performed in the HADES URF (Mol, Belgium). The RESEAL project started in 1996 in the frame of the EURATOM Fourth Framework Programme. The first phase of the project ended in October 1999 with the installation of the shaft seal. A second phase (RESEAL II), mainly focussed on the exploitation of the shaft sealing test, started the 1st of September 2000 in the frame of the EURATOM Fifth Framework Programme, in the field of Nuclear Energy. RESEAL II is a joint project between SCK•CEN (co-ordinator), ANDRA, CEA, CIEMAT and UPC. It is financially supported by EC and NIRAS/ONDRAF. During RESEAL II, the efficiency of the shaft seal installed at the end of RESEAL I should be demonstrated. This second phase will conclude the RESEAL project. All the experimental and calculated data collected since 1996 will be reviewed with regard to the sealing performance and confidence building. This report, covering the period September 2003 – August 2004, summarises the scientific progress of the project. The main results of each task are presented and discussed.