The natural analogue investigations at the Palmottu uranium-thorium deposit give valuable information for nuclear waste disposal

The article gives an overview over the main objectives of the project, which include geosphere transport behaviour of natural radionuclides originating from the Palmottu U-Th deposit, SE Finland. The special significance of the Palmottu natural analogue studies - among other parallel international analogue studies - is that the geologic medium is crystalline rock. The phenomena studied in the project include also solubility and sorption characteristics of uranium governed by water-rock interactions and groundwater flow. The results obtained so far indicate long residence times and slow migration for uranium in this geological environment