Large-Scale
Gas Generation Experiment
Updated June 29, 2011
Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) launched a Large-Scale Gas
Generation Experiment (GGE) in 1997 to investigate the gas generation from the
low-level maintenance waste disposed of in an underground repository. The
principal gas generating processes are the microbial activity and corrosion of
metals. The experiment is running.
The start-up of the GGE was supported by the European
Commission within the PROGRESS project. The principal participating
organisations are currently
TVO (owner and operator of the
experiment)
Safram Oy (consultant, working
for TVO)
VTT Biotechnology (expertise
on microbiology, working for TVO)
Nexia Solutions Ltd (modelling
of the experiment with the Generalised Repository Model), reorganized to National Nuclear Laboratory UK
Recent developments:
The experimental set-up
was modelled by Nexia Solutions Ltd using their Generalised Repository Model.
The work was presented at the MRS 2005 symposium on the Scientific Basis for
Nuclear Waste Management in Ghent Belgium in September 2005. A more comprehensive
description of the work is found in:
Small
J., Nykyri M., Helin M., Hovi U., Sarlin T. and Itävaara M., Experimental and modelling investigations of
the biogeochemistry of gas production from low and intermediate level
radioactive waste. Applied Geochemistry, Elsevier, Volume 23, issue 6, June
2008.
Return to Safram home page.
Figure. The experimental equipment is located in the
VLJ Repository at the Olkiluoto NPP site. It consists of
o
a 20 m3 tank filled with compacted waste material in steel drums, a
large concrete container and water,
o
an automatic online monitoring and control system,
o
a manual sampling system for gas, liquid and solids and
o
a remotely operated process computer.