Characterization of Bentonites from the In Situ ABM5 Heater Experiment at Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden

Abstract

The Alternative Buffer Material ABM5 experiment is an in situ medium-scale experiment performed at Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (HRL) conducted by SKB in Sweden with the aim of analysing the long-term stability of bentonites used as an engineering barrier for a high-level radioactive waste repository (HLWR). In this work, four different ring-shaped Ca- and Na-bentonite blocks, which were piled around a carbon steel cylindrical heater, subjected to a maximum temperature of 250 °C and hydrated with saline Na-Ca-Cl Äspö groundwater (0.91 ionic strength), were characterized after dismantling. This work allowed us to identify the main geochemical processes involved, as well as the modifications in the physico-chemical properties and pore water composition after 4.4 years of treatment. No significant modifications in mineralogy were observed in samples close to the heater contact, except an increase in Fe content due to C-steel corrosion, carbonate dissolution/precipitation (mainly calcite and siderite) and Mg increase. No magnetite and a low amount of Fe(II) inside the clay mineral structure were detected. No modifications were observed in the smectite structure, except a slight increase in total and tetrahedral charge. A decrease in external surface area and cation exchange capacity (CEC) was found in all samples, with lower values being detected at the heater contact. As a consequence of the diffusion of the infiltrating groundwater, a modification of the composition at clay mineral exchange sites occurred. Ca-bentonites increased their Na content at exchange sites, whereas Na-bentonite increased their Ca content. Exchangeable Mg content decreased in all bentonites, except in MX-80 located at the bottom part of the package. A salinity gradient is observed through the bentonite blocks from the granite to the heater contact due to anions are controlled by diffusion and anion exclusion. The pore water chemistry of bentonites evolved as a function of the diffusion transport of the groundwater, the chemical equilibrium of cations at exchange sites and mineral dissolution/precipitation processes. These reactions are in turn dependent on temperature and water vapor fluxes.