Hydrogeological modelling of the Morsleben nuclear waste repository
Country / Region: Germany / Saxony-Anhalt
Begin of project: August 31, 2020
End of project: December 31, 2024
Status of project: July 27, 2023
The Morsleben radioactive waste repository (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) is used for the storage of low and intermediate level radioactive waste, but is to be decommissioned. Long-term safety studies are to be carried out in the course of the decommissioning procedure. Previous numerical calculations of regional groundwater flow and transport in the area around the repository were found to be inadequate because the density-driven flow was not calculated in the three spatial dimensions. In this project, an adequate mathematical and conceptual model for the transient numerical simulation of flow and transport in the three spatial dimensions is to be developed according to the current state of knowledge. The model will then be applied to numerical calculations for long-term safety analyses.
Conceptual flow model for regional groundwater systems
Source: Peche et al. (2021)
A new conceptual model for the site will be developed based on an analysis of existing data and the current state-of-the-art numerical modelling of regional density-driven groundwater flow. The model domain, boundary conditions, source terms, initial conditions and calibration/validation procedure, recommendations for spatial and temporal discretization, parameter distribution for flow and transport, and recommendations for future scenarios are elaborated. In addition, relevant uncertainties of the mathematical and conceptual model are highlighted and the water chemistry at the site is analysed in detail.
In this project, the BGR is addressing the fundamentals of modelling at the site. Numerical calculations are performed by the project partner delta h. The project is coordinated by the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE).
Literature:
Technical reports
- ORILSKI, J., PECHE, A., KRINGEL, R. & ALTFELDER, S. (2022): Hydrogeologische Modellbildung des ERA Morsleben – Kurzbericht zur Erweiterung der Datenbasis für den Parameter effektive Porosität. Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) on behalf of Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE).
- PECHE, A., KRINGEL, R., ORILSKI, J. & SKIBA, P. (2021): Hydrogeologische Modellbildung des ERA Morsleben – Zwischenbericht. Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) on behalf of Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE).
Peer-reviewed papers
- PECHE, A., HOUBEN, G. & ALTFELDER, S. (2023): Approximation of van Genuchten Parameter Ranges from Hydraulic Conductivity Data. - Groundwater. DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13365
- PECHE, A. & HOUBEN, G. J. (2022): Estimating characteristic grain sizes and effective porosity from hydraulic conductivity data. - Groundwater, 61: 574-585. DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13266
Posters
- PECHE, A., HOUBEN, G. & ALTFELDER, S. (2024): HYPAGS: approximation of virtual sieve curves and hydraulic parameter ranges for variably saturated flow from single input values of hydraulic conductivity. - 29. Tagung der Fachsektion Hydrogeologie e.V. in der DGGV e.V., 20–23.3.2024 in Aachen, Germany.
- PECHE, A., TRAN, T.V & ALTFELDER, S. (2024): Timescales of diffusion-dominated radionuclide migration–an evaluation of selected existing nuclear waste repository sites and test sites. - European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2024, 14–19.4.2024 in Vienna, Austria, doi: 10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15090.
- TRAN, T.V., PECHE, A., BRÖMME, K., KRINGEL, R. & ALTFELDER, S. (2024): Machine learning-based prediction of gaps in groundwater time series in the overburden of the Morsleben radioactive waste repository, Germany. - European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2024, 14–19.4.2024 in Vienna, Austria, doi: 10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17411.
Partner: