Geoscientific knowledge is essential to assess safety requirements for radioactive waste disposal strategies. Safety requirements include i) isolation of the nuclear waste from humans and the accessible biosphere, ii) containment of radionuclides by retention and retardation, iii) limitation of water inflow to the geo-engineered facility and iv) long-term geological stability of the site.
The session covers all waste disposal designs, from (near-)surface over shallow to deep geological repositories. Key topics included in this session are:
• Role of geosciences in site characterisation and selection process
• Features and evolution of natural and engineered barrier systems, including induced effects
• Bio-geo-chemical processes, both natural and repository-induced
• Geoscientific evidence supporting Performance and Safety Assessment
• Long-term evolution studies of interactions among hydro-, geo- and bio-sphere, and their impact on the disposal system
• Radionuclide migration assessment
• Impact of short-term and long-term climate change on waste disposal facilities
• Innovative technologies for site characterisation and monitoring, including digital tools and strategies
Contributions on the above topics can include all aspects covering lab-scale experiments, large-scale investigations in underground research laboratories, information from site characterisation campaigns, studies of natural analogues, data management, review studies, and development and application of digital tools.