Analysis of temperature data from the full-scale heater experiments at Stripa

The thermomechanical behavior of deeply fractured crystalline rock when it is used for the isolation of high-level nuclear waste was examined, and a series of experiments was conducted in deep granitic rock at Stripa, Sweden, in a site adjacent to an abandoned iron mine. Among these experiments were two full-scale heating experiments carried out at a depth of approximately 340 m. These experiments were designed to study the near-field effects of heating the rock at two different thermal power levels, with electrical heaters substituting for nuclear waste canisters. Later, one of these experiments was supplemented by eight peripheral heaters to account for the interaction of surrounding waste canisters.