A SIMULATION OF LARGE-SCALE GROUNDWATER FLOW AND TRAVEL TIME IN A FRACTURED ROCK ENVIRONMENT FOR WASTE DISPOSAL PURPOSES

A mathematical groundwater flow and advective transport model is used for a sensitivity analysis of the hydrogeological conceptual model of the Witheshell Research Area, in a very low permeability crystalline rocks context. Travel time and pathways are used as a measure of uncertainty of the parameters of the aquifer system: the groundwater flow pattern and the corresponding travel time depends on the presence of fractured zones, the thickness of these zones, the nature of the vertical boundaries of the system and the density distribution of the water.