Evaluation of tritiated water diffusion through the Toarcian clayey formation of the Tournemire experimental site (France).

Through-diffusion experiments with tritiated water were performed on argillaceous samples from various zones of the Tournemire test site. It was intended to evaluate the homogeneity of the transport property of unfracturated samples and the influence of the orientation and the nature of the samples (presence of an opened fracture or a pre-existing tectonic fracture filled with calcite and pyrite). Homogeneous values of the tritiated water (HTO) effective diffusion coefficients were deduced from experiments carried out when diffusion occurred parallel to the stratigraphic bedding, with an apparent sensitivity to experimental conditions.