Analysis of micro-seismic data to inform the siting, construction and operation of a geological deposal facility in the UK

The project aims to develop a tool for automated analysis of microseismic events to be used as part of the UK siting process for a geological disposal facility (GDF) for nuclear waste. The UK launched its GDF siting programme in 2020 and, to-date, RWM are consulting with two volunteer communities about the potential for hosting a GDF at their locations. One important criterion for deciding on the preferred location for a GDF will be the local geology.
Microseismic events can help us understand the locations of geological structures in the ground, without the need to drill large numbers of boreholes. Events occur naturally at construction depths for a GDF (200 m to 1 km below ground) and can also be induced by man-made activities during site investigation and construction. Each event corresponds to a rock fracturing, and hence, provides information on open fracture pathways for groundwater flow.
The research challenges in analyzing microseismic data are (1) the difficulty in detecting, locating in 3D, and then analyzing the properties of these very tiny events amongst the background noise and (2) the sheer quantity of data caused by the high sampling frequency (> 500 Hz) which necessitates full automation of all analyses. This project will address these challenges and develop a reliable software tool for use in the site investigation and construction phases of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). One further use for such a tool is that the frequency of tiny events at any location is related to the likelihood of larger events, thus the project will support larger earthquake prediction and seismic hazard assessment, feeding back into GDF design.