Current Status of Development of Groundwater Investigation and Simulation Methodologies in the PNC's Geoscientific Study Programme

Abstract

  Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) has been conducting geoscientific studies which provide a scientific basis on which the generic feasibility of the geological disposal concept can be assessed. The purpose of these studies is to understand the natural state of the deep geological environment. Hydraulic and geochemical properties of rock mass and groundwater are main factors which control mass transport behavior. PNC has been therefore conducting hydrogeological and geochemical studies in and around the Tono mine, central Japan, as these properties are important to understand mass transport in the rock mass. PNC has been also developing investigating instruments and methods to acquire data of these properties, modeling methods, and methodologies to evaluate simulation results.