A Comprehensive Hydrodynamic Modeling Approach for the Hydrogeological Site Characterization and for Deriving Input to Performance Assessment

This paper gives an overview of the numerical models employed for the simulation of ground-water flow at the Wellenberg site, the runs carried out and the kind of products which were specified as results of the modelling calculations. With respect to more conventional modelling approaches, based mainly on fully deterministic and steady-state schemes, this new approach integrates both deterministic and stochastic aspects (hydraulic conductivity distribution, geometry of the fracture network, etc.) in three different groundwater models, accounting for different scale levels. Moreover, this new approach is as close as possible to a realistic representation of the in situ conditions, since it is based on plausible distributions of transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity at all scales and takes the transient nature of flow fully into account. This latter aspect is fundamental since, at Wellenberg, both the underground facilities and a natural head anomaly in the host rock cause pressure disturbance in the flow field. Finally, and because boundary conditions (especially topographic surface and overburden) vary over time, model predictions based on current topography and climatic conditions are of limited duration and hence a validity duration has to be defined.