In situ chemical osmosis experiment in the Boom Clay at the Mol underground research laboratory

Studies on the compatibility of Boom Clay with large amounts of nitrate- bearing bituminized radioactive waste have recently raised a particular interest for osmosis-induced effects in this reference formation in Belgium. Indeed, water flow and solute transport may be associated with several types of driving forces, or gradients (chemical, electrical, thermal), in addition to the hydraulic forces, resulting in the so-called coupled flows. Fluid flow caused by driving forces different than hydraulic gradients is referred to as osmosis. Chemical osmosis, the water flow induced by a chemical gradient across a semi-permeable membrane, can generate pressure increase. The question thus arises if there is a risk to create high pore pressures that could damage the near-field of medium-level waste (MLW) galleries, if osmotically driven water flows towards the galleries are produced by the release of large amounts of NaNO3 (750 t) in the formation. To what extent a low-permeability clay formation such as the Boom Clay acts as an osmotic membrane is thus a key issue to assess the relevance of osmosis phenomena for the disposal of medium-level waste. An in situ osmosis experiment has been conducted at the Hades underground research laboratory to determine the osmotic efficiency of Boom Clay at the field scale. A recently developed chemical osmosis flow continuum model has been used to design the osmosis experiment, and to interpret the water pressure measurements. Experimental data could be reproduced quite accurately by the model, and the inferred parameter values are consistent with independent determinations for Boom Clay. A rapid water pressure increase (but limited to about a 2 m water column) was observed after 12 h in the filter containing the more saline water. Then, the osmotically induced water pressure slowly decays on several months. So, the experimental results obtained in situ confirm the occurrence of non-hydraulic flow phenomena (chemical osmosis) in a low-permeability plastic formation such as the Boom Clay. The osmotic efficiency of Boom Clay is high under undisturbed chemical conditions (σ = 0.41 at 0.014 M NaHCO3), but rapidly decreases when the dissolved salts concentration increases (σ = 0.07 at 0.14 M NaHCO3). A semi-permeable membrane behaviour of the Boom Clay (high efficiencies) may be expected for the disposal of nitrate-bearing radioactive waste. However, the presently observed osmotically induced pressure is too low to have a significant mechanical impact on the host rock. Finally, the short duration of the osmosis test performed suggests that the shut-in test method used is effective for osmosis testing.