Crushed aggregate—bentonite mixtures as backfill material for repositories of low- and intermediate level radioactive wastes

The candidate backfill materials for the repositories of low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes consist of three components: crushed rock aggregate, finely ground rock aggregate and bentonite. The hydraulic conductivity of mixtures with 15% of sodium bentonite is approximately 5 · 10^-9m/s based on the laboratory tests. The sweling potential for the same material varies between 20 and 60 kPa depending mainly on the salinity of the groundwater.