Use of a Dual-Structure Constitutive Model for Predicting the Long-Term Behavior of an Expansive Clay Buffer in a Nuclear Waste Repository

Expansive soils are suitable as backfill and buffer materials in engineered barrier systems to isolate heat-generating nuclear waste in deep geological formations. The canisters containing nuclear waste would be placed in tunnels excavated at a depth of several hundred meters. The expansive soil should provide enough swelling capacity to support the tunnel walls, thereby reducing the impact of the excavation-damaged zone on the long-term...