Integrated program of near field data collection for repository post-closure performance assessment

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the advantages of an integrated program of performance assessment and research. This is done by demonstrating how close coordination between experimental research, detailed interpretive and predictive modeling and broader assessment modeling can produce a successful performance assessment methodology that is able to respond rapidly to new issues as they arise. The approach is illustrated by reference to the safety case that is being develop in the UK for uranium-containing wastes. It has been found that the use of modeling to interpret the experimental measurement of key parameters yields a level of understanding that allows new issues to be approached with confidence, and enables a robust representation of the evolution of the repository environment to be used in the performance assessment.