WATERPROOFING PROPERTIES OF CLAY-BASED BARRIER MATERIALS AND THEIR EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION

The article presents research data visually demonstrating the behavior of barrier clay materials with different mineral compositions when interacting with water. It shows that bentonite clays have higher waterproofing capacity: increased portion of kaolin in the mixture (decreased portion of montmorillonite) yields in a decreased waterproofing capacity of clay materials. It can be concluded that the addition of kaolinite to bentonite has negative effect on the waterproofing capacity of clay materials used in the engineered safety barriers construction.

Keywords: radioactive waste, backfill material, clay materials, bentonite, kaolinite, RW disposal, engineered safety barriers, water absorption capacity, waterproofing properties.

Kalistratov A. A., Ilina O. A., Yudanova A. O., Semin P. V., Muzdybayeva Sh. A. Waterproofing properties of clay-based barrier materials and their experimental demonstration. Radioactive Waste 2023, no. 2 (23), pp. 82—89. DOI: 10.25283/2587-9707-2023-2-82-89. (In Russian).