alt Association for Research and Industrial Development of Natural Resources (Aitemin), Spain (from 2010),
alt National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA), France,
alt Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), UK,
alt Nagra, Switzerland,
alt Solexperts, Switzerland (Initial Phase)

The permanent closure of a geologic repository will be guided by observations in the vicinity of a disposal site or dedicated (e.g. pilot) facilities. Several factors limit the capabilities of conventional monitoring systems and drive the need for the development of alternative or complementary techniques:

  • Linking cables from sensors to externally sited data gathering systems may be damaged and may also provide a direct pathway through the engineered barrier
  • Redundancy in case of sensor failure
  • Sensor drift or other changes in sensor performance
  • Limited lifetime of sensors, cables etc.

Wireless and geophysical non-intrusive techniques can provide options for repository monitoring concepts that have less or no adverse effect on safety.
The TEM project aim is to evaluate three existing monitoring techniques:

  • conventionally wired signal transmission
  • wireless signal transmission
  • observations through non-intrusive geophysical techniques.

A unique feature of TEM is that the evaluation takes place in the realistic and full-scale setup of a low-pH shotcrete plug in a gallery.
The TEM project was initiated in September 2006 alongside the EC Integrated Project ESDRED . Module 4 of the Engineering Studies and Demonstrations of Repository Designs project concerned the technology and low-pH cement needed to construct sealing plugs using the shotcrete technique. One full-scale low-pH shotcrete plug was constructed and tested at the GTS.

When ESDRED came to a close early in 2009, TEM continued in the context of the project MoDeRn of the Euratom 7th Framework Programme. A technical part of the Monitoring Developments for Safe Repository Operation and Staged Closure project is related to the development of monitoring activities in the radioactive waste disposal process. Specifically, the objective for WP3 is to further continue and develop in-situ monitoring demonstration experiments using innovative techniques.

For more information about this project, or to get in touch, please use our contact page.

Test and Evaluation of Monitoring Systems (TEM) - Location of TEM in GRimsel
Location of the ESDRED/TEM projects within the Grimsel Test Site

 

Test and Evaluation of Monitoring Systems (ESDRED / TEM)