Voorstel van ontwerp van een proeftumulus in Dessel. Project phase disposal category A waste

Since the decision of the Belgian government to locate the surface disposal facility for LILW-SL in the municipality of Dessel, detailed technical studies are being carried out to prepare different license applications with a view to enter the construction phase by 2011-2012. During the current project phase(2007-2010) an assessment basis will be established comprising detailed design, phenomenological description of the evolution of the installation and its environment, and safety assessment scoping calculations. Once a sound and defensible assessment basis has been formed, the formal compliance radiological long-term safety assessments will be conducted. In this report we develop the preliminary design for an experimental multi-layer cover to support the development of the final cover to be installed on the disposal modules at the end of the operational period of the near surface disposal facility in Dessel. Monitoring of the experimental cover will take place during several tens of years. A first attempt is made to define the instrumentation required for long-term monitoring, where the emphasis is on the hydrological and chemical balance, the carbon dioxide water fluxes to the underlying facility, the detection of leaks in the infiltration barrier, surface processes including erosion, and the settlement of the cover layers.