BENCHPAR project, the impact of thermal-hydrological-mechanical (THM) couplings on the performance of a bentonite-back-filled nuclear waste repository in near-field crystalline rocks is evaluated in a Bench-Mark Test problem (BMT1) and the results are presented in a series of three companion papers in this issue. This is the third paper with focus on the effects of THM processes at a repository located in a sparsely fractured rock. Several independent coupled THM analyses presented in this paper show that THM couplings have the most significant impact on the mechanical stress evolution, which is important for repository design, construction and post-closure monitoring considerations. The results show that the stress evolution in the bentonite-back-filled excavations and the surrounding rock depends on the post-closure evolution of both fields of temperature and fluid pressure. It is further shown that the time required to full resaturation may play an important role for the mechanical integrity of the repository drifts. In this sense, the presence of hydraulically conducting fractures in the near-field rock might actually improve the mechanical performance of the repository. Hydraulically conducting fractures in the near-field rocks enhances the water supply to the buffers/back-fills, which promotes a more timely process of resaturation and development of swelling pressures in the back-fill, thus provides timely confining stress and support to the rock walls. In one particular case simulated in this study, it was shown that failure in the drift walls could be prevented if the compressive stresses in back-fill were fully developed within 50 years, which is when thermally induced rock strain begins to create high differential (failure-prone) stresses in the near-field rocks.

As part of the ongoing international DECOVALEX project, four research teams used five different models to simulate coupled thermal, hydrological, and mechanical (THM) processes near underground waste emplacement drifts. The simulations were conducted for two generic repository types, one with open and the other with back-filled repository drifts, under higher and lower post-closure temperature, respectively. In the completed first model inception phase of the project, a good agreement was achieved between the research teams in calculating THM responses for both repository types, although some disagreement in hydrological responses are currently being resolved. Good agreement in the basic thermal-mechanical responses was also achieved for both repository types, even though some teams used relatively simplified thermal-elastic heat-conduction models that neglect complex near-field thermal-hydrological processes. The good agreement between the complex and simplified process models indicates that the basic thermal-mechanical responses can be predicted with a relatively high confidence level.

Geological disposal of the spent nuclear fuel uses often the concept of multiple barrier systems. In order to predict the performance of these barriers, mathematical models have been developed, verified and validated against analytical solutions, laboratory tests and field experiments within the international DECOVALEX III project. These models in general consider the full coupling of thermal (T), hydraulic (H) and mechanical (M) processes that would prevail in the geological media around the repository. For Bench Mark Test no. 1 (BMT1) of the DECOVALEX III project, seven multinational research teams studied the implications of coupled THM processes on the safety of a hypothetical nuclear waste repository at the near-fiel and are presented in three accompany papers in this issue. This paper is the first of the three companion papers, which provides the conceptualization and characterization of the BMT1 as well as some general conclusions based on the findings of the numerical studies. It also shows the process of building confidence in the mathematical models by calibration with a reference T-H-M experiment with realistic rock mass conditions and bentonite properties and measured outputs of thermal, hydraulic and mechanical variables.