THE POCOS-DE-CALDAS PROJECT - AN INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR RADIOACTIVE-WASTE DISPOSAL

The Pocos de Caldas project was designed to provide information of direct use to those involved in the safety assessment of buried radioactive wastes. This paper describes the four technical objectives of the project and the extent to which they were successfully addressed. The four objectives were: to test geochemical codes describing radionuclide solubility and speciation in groundwaters, to examine the applicability of models describing geochemical processes at mobile oxidation fronts, to evaluate the role of colloids in geochemical transport in groundwaters and to determine U/Th and REE mobility during hydrothermal alteration. Additional conclusions are drawn with regard to developing repository site investigation methodology. The paper does not present original data from the project, since these are provided in the accompanying papers in this volume, but focuses instead on the project's broader implications for radioactive waste management.