Clay as sealing material in nuclear waste repositories.

Nuclear waste from thermal plants poses a lasting risk to the biosphere because of its long radioactive life. The planned definitive storage place for it is in deeply buried repositories. Such repositories would need to be both impermeable to water, and plastic during deformation, in order to avoid the formation of cracks that may allow water in. One of the clay minerals, smectite, has these two properties and is an ideal candidate as a sealing material or even host rock for nuclear waste repositories. The chemical stability of smectite in the repository environment is sufficient to maintain good sealing properties during the active life of the relevant radionuclides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]