1,1,2,3,4,- 1Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research GmbH – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- 2Chair of Applied Environmental Systems Analysis, Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- 3Chair of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology – TUBAF, Freiberg, Germany
- 4Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal – BGE, Peine, Germany
- *A full list of authors appears at the end of the abstract
In Germany, the search for a repository for high-level radioactive waste aims to identify the most suitable location for a deep geological repository in one of three types of host rock: salt, clay or crystalline rock. To this end, the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) is conducting a series of increasingly refined safety assessments. In the upcoming Phase II of the site selection process, these assessments will be carried out at the level of several siting regions. Surface exploration will take place alongside the safety assessments.
A key aspect of these safety assessments is the numerical simulation of coupled thermal, hydraulic, mechanical and chemical (THMC) processes within the repository system. In the BGE-funded OpenWorkFlow project (Lehmann et al., 2024), we are developing automated simulation workflows to support this. These workflows will enable the efficient analysis of different siting regions and the easy variation of model parameters and geometries. For example, they will facilitate uncertainty analyses and modelling of different scenarios (features, events and processes, FEPs), as well as the quick adoption of data updates during the site selection process. Furthermore, automation ensures the reproducibility of analyses.
This contribution provides an overview of the current development status of the OpenWorkFlow platform. Among other things, we discuss the modularity of workflows. We demonstrate how various (partial) couplings of the THMC processes and the necessary parameterisations relevant to different scenario simulations and queries are implemented at workflow level. We present our approach to long-term workflow maintenance (Bilke et al., 2025). Finally, we discuss the traceability and verifiability of our workflows.
References
Bilke, L., Fischer, T., Naumov, D. et al. (2025): Reproducible HPC software deployments, simulations, and workflows – a case study for far-field deep geological repository assessment. Environ Earth Sci 84, 502. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-025-12501-z
Lehmann, C., Bilke, L., Buchwald, J. et al. (2024): OpenWorkFlow—Development of an open-source synthesis-platform for safety investigations in the site selection process. Grundwasser - Zeitschrift der Fachsektion Hydrogeologie 29, 31–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00767-024-00566-9
Dmitri Naumov, Falko Vehling, Florian Zill, Haibing Shao, Jörg Buchwald, Karsten Rink, Mostafa Mollaali, Norbert Grunwald, Philipp Selzer, Tobias Meisel, Wenqing Wang, Lars Bilke, Mehran Ghasabeh, Leonard Grabow, Linus Walter
How to cite: Lehmann, C., Kolditz, O., Nagel, T., Behrens, C., Kreye, P., and Rühaak, W. and the OpenWorkFlow-Team: OpenWorkFlow – Automated Simulation Workflows for Safety Assessments of Nuclear Waste Repositories, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21089, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21089, 2026.
