A new test set up for the in situ determination of percolation parameters in rock

In a study on the underground siting of nuclear power plants in rock caverns, the protective effect of the overlaying rock is determined for a hypothetical nuclear accident in which contaminated water from the reactor cavern is pressed into the surrounding rock. A test set-up has been developed for the experimental analysis of these percolation processes in the rock, with which the spatial and temporal expansion of the percolation temperature fields and contamination can be observed. The test arrangement is a modified water injection test. A salt tracer is pumped into a central borehole into the rock. The percolation processes are observed in neighboring boreholes. Initial results are reported