Transient nuclide release through the bentonite barrier -SKB 91

A study of near-field radionuclide migration is presented. The study has been performed in the context of the SKB91 study which is a comprehensive performance assessment of disposal of spent fuel. The objective of the present study has been to enable the assessment of which nuclides can be screened out because they decay to insignificant levels already in the near-field of the repository. A numerical model has been used which describes the transient transport of radionuclides through a small hole in a HLW canister imbedded in bentonite clay into a fracture in the rock outside the bentonite. Calculations for more than twenty nuclides, nuclides with both high and low solubility have been made. The effect of sorption in the bentonite backfill is included. The size of the penetration hole was assumed to be constant up to time when the calculations were terminated, 500000 year after the deposition. The mass transport rate is controlled by diffusion. The model is three dimensional. The report describes the geometry of the modelled system, the assumptions concerning the transport resistances at the boundary conditions, the handling of the source term and obtained release curves. (au)