Sorption data bases and mechanistic sorption studies

In common with many other countries with a nuclear programme, the Swiss concept for the disposal of radioactive waste is focused on deep burial in specially constructed repositories in geologically stable host rocks. Under such conditions, the most likely means whereby radionuclides might return to the biosphere involves their transport in slowly moving groundwater. The sorption of radionuclides by solid phases in the engineered barriers within the repository, and in the surrounding geological media, limits their release and retards their movement. Performance assessment studies for disposal concepts are carried out by Nagra, the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, in which various release scenarios are examined, and 'doses to man' calculated. The uptake of radionuclides by immobile phases is one of the pillars upon which the safety case rests. Hence, sorption databases are very important data sets for performance assessments. The methodology lying behind the construction of sorption databases, and some aspects of the supporting experimental work, are briefly described in this report. Flexible, long-term, focused research programmes are required to properly understand the radionuclide/rock/groundwater system, and this is an essential pre-requisite for producing robust state-of-the-art sorption databases. (author)