The recharge area concept: A strategy for siting nuclear waste repositories

The Recharge Area Concept is the proposition that in Canadian-Shield type natural environments recharge areas of regional groundwater flow systems are superior for high-level nuclear waste repositories to other types of groundwater flow regimes, especially to areas of groundwater discharge. This conclusion is reached from an analysis of basinal groundwater flow models. The calculations were made for a two-dimensional flank of a fully saturated topographic basin, 20 km long and 4 km deep, in which groundwater is driven by gravity. Variants of hydraulic-conductivity distributions were considered: 1) homogeneous; 2) stratified; and 3) stratified-faulted. The faults attitudes were changed by steps from vertical to horizontal for different variants. The model is assumed conceptually to represent the crystalline-rock environment of the Canadian Shield. The hydrogeologic performances of hypothetical repositories placed 500 m deep in the recharge and discharge areas were characterized by thirteen parameters. The principal advantages of recharge- over discharge-area locations are: 1) longer travel paths and return-flow times from repository to surface; 2) robustness of predicted values of performance parameters; 3) field-verifiability of favourable hydrogeologic conditions (amounting to an implicit validation of the calculated minimum values of return-flow times); 4) site acceptance based on quantifiable and observable flow-controlling parameters; and 5) simple logistics and favourable economics of site selection and screening. As a by-product of modeling, it is demonstrated that the presence of old water is not an indication of stagnancy. (author)