Modelling the effective diffusion coefficient of anions in Callovo-Oxfordian argillite knowing the microstructure of the rock

After having presented the issue of radioactive waste storage, the concept of geological storage and its application in the Meuse/Haute-Marne underground laboratory, and described the Callovo-Oxfordian geological formation and the argillite transport properties, this research thesis aims at developing a prediction of these properties at a macroscopic scale for water and anions. A first part presents the different experimental means implemented to acquire the diffusion coefficients for the studied materials (Callovo-Oxfordian argillite and purified Puy illite), and the spatial organisation of minerals by LIBS probe-based mapping to highlight a relationship between rock microstructure and its transport macroscopic properties. The next part presents the models which have been developed at the nanometer and micrometre scale to predict the diffusion coefficients. Experimental results are then compared with computed values