NEA Mandates and Structures
Working Group on the Characterisation, the Understanding and the Performance of Argillaceous Rocks as Repository Host Formations (CLAY CLUB)
| Chair(s): |
Bastian GRAUPNER, Switzerland
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Secretary: |
Tomohiro HIGASHIHARA
(tomohiro.higashihara@oecd-nea.org)
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| Member(s): | All NEA member countries* |
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| Russia (Suspended*) |
| *Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council. |
| EU participation: |
The European Union (EU) takes part in the work of the NEA, in accordance with the NEA Statute and the Supplementary Protocol to the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
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| Observer(s)(International Organisation): |
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
By agreement
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| Date of creation: | 01 January 1991 |
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| End of mandate: | 31 December 2020 |
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Mandate (Document reference):
- CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/CLAYCLUB(2002)1]
- CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/CLAYCLUB(2006)3]
- Summary Record of the 8th Meeting of the IGSC [NEA/RWM/IGSC(2006)5]
- Summary Record of the 11th Meeting of the IGSC [NEA/RWM/IGSC(2009)7]
- Summary Record of the 12th meeting of the IGSC [NEA/RWM/IGSC(2010)8]
- CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/CLAYCLUB(2009)1/PROV]
- CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/CLAYCLUB(2010)3/PROV]
- CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/CLAYCLUB(2014)3/PROV]
- Extension of the CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/IGSC(2014)5/PROV]
- Extension of the CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/IGSC(2016)5/PROV]
- CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/CLAYCLUB(2016)3]
- Extension of the CLAY CLUB Mandate [NEA/RWM/CLAYCLUB(2019)1/FINAL]
Mandate (Document extract):
Extract from document NEA/RWM/CLAYCLUB(2019)1/FINAL
Mandate
[...]
Objectives
The Clay Club promotes the exchange of information and shared approaches and methods to develop and document an evolving understanding of clay media as a host rock for a repository.
The Clay Club provides advice to the Integration Group for the Safety Case (IGSC) on major and emerging issues related to the understanding of the multi-scale characterisation, numerical model simulation and barrier performance of argillaceous media. In particular, the Clay Club addresses recommendations, trends and information gaps concerning issues such as:
- current knowledge regarding the long-term barrier integrity of argillaceous rocks as relevant to establishing a deep geological repository safety case on time frames of one million years;
- the development of best international practice with respect to multi-disciplinary laboratory, borehole and in situ characterisation of argillaceous sediments necessary to understand far-field phenomena governing repository evolution, behaviour and long-term performance;
- a refinement of the understanding of repository-induced effects in argillaceous rocks during excavation, operation and post-closure phases;
- the application of self-analogues, which at formation scale, provide direct up-scaled formation‑specific properties and evidence of past argillaceous groundwater system stability and resilience to external perturbations;
- performance assessment, including development of integrated conceptual geosphere models, predictive numerical simulation and abstraction and, traceability of related data and information;
- links and potential knowledge transfer between the understanding of clay as a host material and its use in engineered barrier systems for deep geological repositories;
- relevant progress in research and development on argillaceous sediments in other fields or industries, such as oil and gas exploration (performance of cap rocks, unconventional shale oil , shale gas) and CO2 sequestration (performance of enclosing clay barriers).
