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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
Katherine A. Daniels, Jon F. Harrington (British Geological Survey), Mark Jensen (NWMO)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 826-833
The Bruce nuclear site in Canada has been proposed to host a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste (L&ILW). The repository would be constructed within a low permeability, argillaceous limestone, the Upper Ordovician age Cobourg Formation. Here, we present the results of two steady-state laboratory hydraulic conductivity tests performed to measure the intrinsic permeability of rock core samples from the Cobourg and overlying Queenston shale formations; both samples were measured under an isotropic confining pressure using a constant head approach. Pump pressures and volumes were recorded for upstream and downstream pumps, throughout testing. The resulting hydraulic inflow and outflow rates were measured for each sample under two different pressure gradients, yielding exceptionally low values of permeability (on the order of 10-22 m2 or 0.1 nD). These data provide further evidence of the applicability of existing steady-state experimental methods to obtain reliable estimates of extremely low permeabilities from rock core samples under re-established in-situ stress conditions. The exceptionally low permeability of these formations, consistent with in-situ testing and formation scale estimates obtained during the site characterisation program, along with their low porosities, renders them an effective barrier to hydraulic flow for the purpose of geological isolation.