A large‐scale investigation of fracture flow was recently conducted in a granite uranium mine at Fanay‐Augères, France. Its aim was to develop a methodology for the investigation of possible nuclear waste repository sites in crystalline environments, and thus to determine what measurements to make and what models to use in order to predict the flow and transport properties of the medium, i.e., their average behaviors and spatial variabilities at different scales. Four types of data were collected: (1) geometry of the fracture network; (2) local hydraulic properties measured by injection tests in boreholes; (3) global hydraulic behavior from flow rate and piezometric head distribution at a 106 m3 scale; and (4) tracer tests performed at a scale of up to 40 m. A stochastic fracture network model assuming negligible matrix permeability was developed and calibrated essentially on data 1 and 2 above; this was then used to predict data 3 and 4 in an attempt to validate both the parameters and the structure of the model. In this first part, only the flow problem (data 1) is discussed.
Abandon des mines de sel : faut-il ennoyer ? Résumé L'abandon d'une mine de sel sèche soulève un problème très particulier en raison de la forte probabilité que la mine soit noyée après son abandon, avec des conséquences significatives à la surface du sol. On analyse plusieurs cas d'ennoyage survenus pendant que des mines de sel étaient encore actives, afin de comparer les avantages et les inconvénients d'un ennoyage délibéré avant l'abandon, et notamment la dégradation possible des bancs marneux situés au mur de la mine. M ots-clés : mine de sel, ennoyage volontaire, dégradation du mur. Dry salt mine abandonm ent : is deliberate flooding the best option ? A bstract Abandonment of dry salt mines raises a difficult problem, as post-abandonment mine flooding is in most cases highly probable, with possible severe consequences at ground level. Several cases of active mine flooding are analyzed, to compare the advantages and drawbacks of a deliberate flooding before mine abandonment. Special attention is kept to the possible degradation of the marly floor layers.
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