Quintessa has developed system descriptions for a range of generic geological environments that will form an input for the post-closure component of the DSSC. An initial study assessed the modifications that might need to be made to the Phased Geological Repository Concept (PGRC) for ILW were it to be implemented in each of the different environments. A companion study considered the potential compatibility of a range of disposal concepts for HLW and Spent Fuel with the different environments.

In the most recent piece of work we have illustrated the approaches that might be used to model the groundwater pathway for each environment using the level of information that would typically be available at a desk study stage, such as that envisaged in the on-going MRWS programme, prior to any actual site investigation. The modelling illustrated the role that the geosphere would be likely to play in the post-closure safety case for each environment and how the type of information that would be required by a performance assessment model might be derived for each of the different environments. This included the development of a new method for representing diffusion-dominated transport in a very simple performance assessment model.

A range of tools was used including analytical solutions, FEFLOW and GoldSim. Illustrations of two of the simple models developed using FEFLOW are shown: a 3D flow and transport model for a fractured host rock, and a 2D flow and transport model for an environment in which solute transport is dominated by diffusion.