Compacted bentonite and a bentonite–sand mixture have been considered as a potential buffer material for nuclear waste stored underground. The effects of dry density, water content and sand fraction on the thermal conductivity of the mixtures were investigated via data collected with the transient line source technique. With those parameters known, a single expression for the thermal conductivity of the mixture ...
Bentonite buffer is a key element in a high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository as it dissipates decay heat from the waste to the surrounding rock. This article looked at Kyeongju bentonite as a candidate buffer material and investigated the dependence of thermal conductivity on various experimental conditions. A thermal analyzer instrument was used to measure thermal conductivity using the transient plane source method. Thermal conductivity was found to increase with ...
