An analytical solution of temperature in a nuclear waste repository

Abstract

Abstract The temperature distribution is an important issue for the design and safety assessment of the repository for disposing high-level radioactive nuclear waste (HLRW). In order to analyze the heat conduction property near the HLRW canister accurately, the solution of temperature distribution is divided into two parts. Two mathematical models were established respectively, and the corresponding analytical solutions were obtained in terms of the heat conduction equations in the buffer layer and surrounding rock. Then, by the superposition method, the solution of total temperature is obtained and verified by checking against the existing ones for a special case in the literature. Finally, a parametric study is performed to investigate the temperature performance in the buffer layer and surrounding rock with different parameters.