ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses conducted experiments of fundamental art in planning, and preparation of low-level (LLW) and intermediate-level (ILW) radioactive waste repositories, and the evolution of engineered barriers, primarily clay liners and fills, in the initial part of the operational 300–500 years. A repository located on-ground must rest on stable soil or rock as tested and verified by geotechnical methods. The chapter illustrates the basis of the design of proposed and actually constructed repositories, or parts thereof, and gives the readers information on how selection of materials and construction techniques can be motivated by referring to three principle cases, termed I, II, and III, representing construction of a typical clay liner under different climatic conditions. The whole concept of disposal, including a top liner over the waste mass that consists of cement-stabilized waste from incinerated organic material and a bottom bed of Friedland clay, has been licensed by the Swedish Environmental Agency.
