Session description:

New Strategy for the Start of Storage from 2040
Description:
Based on the advanced insights gained from previous work, the further process can be accelerated by a paradigm shift in the approach, enabling a significantly earlier start of storage.
Central Thesis:
The paradigm shift is based on two key pillars:
1. From Searching to Finding:
Instead of a lengthy search process, the focus is on the vision of active finding. This approach emphasizes clearly defined, actionable criteria and the targeted identification of sites that already meet these requirements, rather than pursuing indefinite or diffuse search procedures. The reorientation requires a clear vision and determination, viewing potential sites as solution partners rather than mere locations.
2. From Bureaucratic Enforcement to a Strategy of Willing Applicants:
Rather than slowing down the process through bureaucratic structures and a complex approval process without clear accountability, a voluntary and collaborative approach is chosen. This paradigm shift relies on a strategy where interested regions or communities can actively apply to host the storage. To encourage this willingness, a generous compensation package will be offered, including financial incentives, infrastructure development projects, and long-term economic benefits. This process aims not only to increase acceptance but also to ensure responsible and transparent collaboration between the state, the economy, and society.
Session Goal:
The session will discuss and evaluate the potential of this new strategy. The focus is on how storage from 2040 can be realized faster, more efficiently, and with greater societal acceptance, without compromising safety and long-term responsibility.
Discussion Questions:
• How can the shift from a search to a finding process be implemented?
• What incentives are necessary to motivate regions to voluntarily apply?
• How can a fair compensation system be ensured?
• What role does communication and public involvement play in this process?

Session description:

This session will delve into critical issues surrounding the very long-term safety of high-level nuclear waste (HLW). The discussion will focus on four key topics: (1) the relatively high level of hazard posed by HLW essentially indefinitely, (2) the foundations and limitations of the commonly used time horizon of up to one million years in safety assessments, (3) whether geology provides a permanent or merely temporary solution for long-term waste containment, and (4) the ethical considerations our societies must confront in addressing the environmental and human health implications of HLW indefinitely.

The session format can either consist of individual presentations addressing these topics or be structured around a keynote presentation followed by a panel discussion, with the audience having the opportunity to engage directly. In the event that no other presenters are available, I am willing to deliver the keynote presentation based on my own research, where the radiation hazard of both spent fuel and vitrified HLW is quantitatively assessed. This research, which will be published in a peer-reviewed journal by the end of this year, highlights the overlooked extended timescales in HLW management and challenges common comparisons of HLW radioactivity with that of the original uranium ore.

This session will be of particular interest to stakeholders in radioactive waste management, policymakers, researchers, and ethicists concerned with nuclear safety and sustainability.

Session description:

This session shall cover all aspects on storage, final storage, transport and conditioning with their interrelationships to improve storage and final storage.

Session description:

Other technical concepts than mining could accelerate site exploration and construction of final disposal. New hypothetical concepts and technologies can be presented here. Administrative and procedural processes for site selection are excluded.

Session description:

This session will focus on the geomechanical behaviour of host formation and buffer materials designated for nuclear waste disposals (NWD), emphasising the role of the thermo-hydro-mechanical couplings on the system response and stability over time. The geomechanical behaviour of the materials involved in NWD is of central importance in guiding site selection, ensuring long-term waste containment, and optimizing the repository footprint and cost. This session will explore how the recent advancements in geomaterials characterisation and modelling techniques support the repositories' short and long-term prediction and safety assessment.
Perspective contributions include:

1. Coupled mechanical response of natural and engineered barriers:
o Assessing the mechanical response of host rocks (e.g., salt, clay, shales) and buffer materials and their role in ensuring containment safety
o Recent advancement in laboratory and in-situ testing techniques and results characterising the geomechanical behaviour
o Impact of thermo-hydro-mechanical couplings on rock integrity
o Multiphase flow and gas transport
o Long-term performance (e.g. creep behavior)

2. Numerical Modelling and Simulation:
o Advanced numerical models to predict rock behaviour over the operational lifetime of repositories.
o Calibration of models with experimental laboratory and field data.
o Predicting geomechanical responses under long-term conditions.

3. Challenges and Future Directions:
o Addressing uncertainties in the short and long-term predictions.
o Innovations in system characterization and modelling practices.
o Future research needs in the domain.

The session goals :
• A comprehensive understanding of how geomechanical behaviour affects the short and long-term safety of nuclear waste repositories.
• Identify gaps in characterisation and modelling practises and cross-learn among the various programs
• Strengthened collaboration between engineers and researchers

Session description:

A plausible solution of how to keep and transmit the description of a NWR (regarding the content, the location, and the point in time when the NWR was set up) to future generations/cultures/civilizations is decisive for the public's acceptance of a NWR - and it should be an integral aspect to be asked for during certification processes by the regulators as well.

This session presents diverse approaches, from vague ideas to concrete concepts, by national nuclear waste entities but also reaching out beyond, such as artistic/cultural initiatives.

Beside the introduction of the concept, the presentations should also contain a comparable rough estimation of the respective costs, effort, and effectiveness. (to be defined in the call for papers). The outcomes should be suitable to counter the concepts of Ray Cats and nuclear priesthoods, which still, repeatedly, and unjustified - even after being dismissed as ineligible by the authors themselves - are cited in public media as solution to pass on the information about a NWR.

Session description:

Radioactive waste disposal and related radiation protection is a sociotechnical challenge that demands resilience, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and interdisciplinary collaboration. A key aspect of ensuring the long-term safety and timely implementation of nuclear waste disposal strategies is empowering the next generation of researchers. Contributions from young researchers working in various aspects of radioactive waste management will be highlighted in this session to emphasize the importance of fostering resilience and knowledge continuity in an area where safety and timely decision-making play an important role.

This session provides a platform for early career researchers to present their scientific work—from innovative geological explorations, developments in radiation measurements and protection, experimental and modeling works as well as engineering solutions — while also fostering interdisciplinary dialogue. By doing so, we seek to connect early career professionals and research field starters with each other and experienced scientists, create networking opportunities, and facilitate the exchange of knowledge. Contributions from recent strategies in knowledge management and competence retention round up the session to allow a comprehensive view that will help to ensure the long-term success and safety of nuclear waste disposal programs as well as appropriate knowledge transfer.

The session can be organized in a mixed format, starting with an impulse panel discussion of invited experts involved in different fields such as education, research, industry and student and political representatives. In the second part of the session, we welcome the individual presentations of the early career professionals and research field starters.

Session description:

Storing the radioactive waste in a deep geological repository (DGR) is considered a robust solution to minimize the risks to human health and the environment, even in the far future. However, how do we know it is truly safe? How can we manage uncertainties in an analysis extending up to 1 million years into the future? This session will focus on the methods used to assess post-closure safety of a DGR. We invite contributions related to all aspects of post-closure safety, from evaluating how the technical barriers contribute to the long-term safety of a DGR to calculating radiation doses to humans as well as non-human biota. Suggested topics may include (but are not limited to):
• Quantifying uncertainties related to long-term evolution of a DGR and its environment
• Defining scenarios for post-closure safety analyses, including different climate evolutions
• Evaluating how natural and technical barriers contribute to post-closure safety
• Determining representative persons and life habits over long timescales
• Evaluating radionuclide transport and dose to humans and non-human biota
• Assessing landscape development and identifying potential release areas
• Strategies for using generic versus site-specific data in post-closure safety analyses
• Methods for choosing and evaluating Features, Events and Processes (FEPs) of importance for post-closure safety
• Engineering and modelling perspectives on post closure safety
• Are there alternative waste-management solutions to DGRs?

Session description:

Description

As a socio-technical endeavour, deep geological disposal of radioactive waste links to different aspects of sustainability – particularly concerning time. Due to its very long timeframe (several decades for implementation, operation and closure to hundred thousands of years for long-term safety) and scope, it is unique compared to other infrastructure projects: it is a clear transgenerational project, which automatically raises questions of sustainability. Not only waste management organisations (WMOs) - tasked with the implementation of radioactive waste disposal - but also other actors like regulators face sustainability challenges with regard to time-related aspects. This includes for example safety, intra- and intergenerational justice, endurance of institutions, participation of civil society, or knowledge management. However, is sustainability just a fashionable label in the discourse on geological disposal of radioactive waste? Is the discussion on sustainability even necessary? What are possible positive inputs of this discussion? In order to approach these questions, this session focusses on sustainability questions specifically related to the temporal aspects of final disposal of radioactive waste.

Objectives and scope

This session discusses various topics connecting time and sustainability in the implementation of geological disposal of radioactive waste. It focusses on the institutions involved, public participation and empowerment of society as well as preserving expertise and knowledge. In this context, it addresses the following general questions: What does sustainability mean regarding implementing final disposal of radioactive waste – especially for the WMOs? How can WMOs respect sustainability aspects and meet the respective challenges? Time is a safety factor: no compromise to the best possible safety shall be made but WMOs have to implement the geological disposal efficiently with reaching milestones and goals within a certain time. The relationship between safety and sustainability should be discussed, i.e. aspects of reciprocity, dependency or mutual exclusion. Moreover, aspects of justice, responsibility and fairness towards current and future generations as well as in the corresponding processes are relevant. Difficulties in predicting long-term future social, political, economic and environmental developments lead to the question of sustainability of the involved institutions. In view of the time scales, institutions are required that are able to act over long periods and to develop in line with changing boundary conditions. From the perspective of time and sustainability, questions of securing institutions as well as institutional embedding of the task are relevant. This includes additional aspects: transparent knowledge transfer and participation of the civil society and further stakeholder raise the question of whether and how corresponding formats are received and perceived. The task of transferring knowledge to future generations with changing social conditions and structures is challenging which requires a successful interaction between civil society and WMOs. In the field of knowledge management, it is and will be relevant to enable sustainable preservation of expertise - both now and in the future. In this context, retrospective considerations and evaluations of sustainability aspects in earlier approaches and programs can also be helpful (e.g. the relation of time planning and progress in reality as a permanent dilemma). Even before the forthcoming and popularization of the term ‘sustainability’, there was a discussion how to realize geological disposal of radioactive waste in a safe but economically efficient manner.

Contributions

Contributions with a socio-technical focus from all disciplines on national and international perspective are welcome and can address but are not limited to the following topics in context of time and sustainability:
• Safety and sustainability: aspects of reciprocity, dependency, exclusion
• Intra- / intergenerational and procedural aspects: responsibility, justice
• Endurance of institutions: resilient systems, long-term governance, organisational learning, aspects of error and safety culture, development of political landscape (e.g. relationship between the executive and legislative power, changing political majorities or public opinion)
• Participation of civil society: evaluation and results of formats of stakeholder involvement, models for evaluating participation formats
• Knowledge management: processes of preservation of knowledge and expertise, digital systems
• History: lessons learned from former approaches, programs and projects

Session description:

In the multi-barrier concept for the safe long-term storage of high-level nuclear waste in deep geological repositories, the stability of the individual barriers is a key factor.
The stability of the individual barriers, such as the outer and inner canister materials, and the buffer materials (clays, cementitous materials), depend on a variety of hydro-bio-geochemical factors, but also on the materials used in each case. Material stability and forecast of material degradation phenomena in the long-term are important aspects to be adressed in the safety case and the design of a deep geological repository. This session adresses the interplay between timely and rapid research and development of canister and disposal concepts versus the reliable assesment of the long-term material behavior used in a multi-barrier concept, with a special focus on corrosion issues. Topics of interest are:
- Corrosion studies on potential canister materials
- Application orientied material and canister development and testing
- Stability and degradation of buffer and filler materials affected by corrosion
- Modelling of material behavior on long time-scales with respect to hydro-bio-geochemical induced corrosion phenomena
This session covers by an interdisciplinary approach the challenge to adress and forecast material behavior for the timely implementation of a safe deep geological repository.

Session description:

Characterising spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and radioactive waste is essential for ensuring safe and efficient interim and final disposal. Precise knowledge of waste properties, including radionuclide composition, decay heat, reactivity, gamma-ray and neutron emission, allows for informed decision-making in storage, transport and disposal. Proper characterisation reduces uncertainties in safety assessments and helps optimise SNF and waste management. This session would explore advancements in characterisation methods and their critical role in the SNF and waste management.

Session description:

High-level and long-lived radioactive waste, referred to as nuclear waste (NW), are best disposed of in deep geological repositories (DGRs). A DGR is a multi-barrier system of engineered and natural barriers (NB) designed to ensure long-term isolation of NW from the biosphere. NB includes host rocks and, depending on regulations, may encompass surrounding geological formations.
An essential aspect of DGR development is site selection, where the geological characteristics of the NB and hydrogeological conditions of the site must support effective waste isolation. Timely implementation of DGRs is crucial due to the high current radioactivity of NW and the associated risks of above-ground storage, which is vulnerable to geopolitical threats and climate change impacts.
National programs gather geological information for designing and constructing safe DGRs, informing decisions at each stage, including concept choices, site selection, licensing, waste emplacement, and closure. However, the technical designs, regulatory frameworks, evaluation, and safety criteria are still evolving and vary by country. Additionally, each stage must be transparent and understandable to the public, making social acceptance and public involvement vital.
We seek contributions that address:
• The integration of timing as a safety factor in DGR projects, considering the current high radioactivity of NW and the risks associated with above-ground storage.
• Lessons learned from NW disposal projects, focusing on issues and solutions related to DGR site characterization and selection, with an emphasis on timely implementation.
• The strong link between safety in NW disposal and geoscience fundamentals, and insights from other geoscience applications (e.g., geothermal energy extraction, geological carbon sequestration) relevant to NW disposal.
• National and transnational public outreach, involvement programs, siting approaches, and regulatory frameworks, highlighting how these contribute to timely and safe NW disposal.
This session aims to:
• Promote the exchange of information on disposal concepts, site characterization, and the integration of timely implementation into safety evaluations.
• Provide key references on different national disposal programs, valuable for geoscientists, engineers, regulatory bodies, and NGOs involved in NW management. It will also be of interest to the public and decision-makers seeking an overview of advances in R&D related to DGR site characterization, selection, and timely implementation.

Session description:

Final disposal containers for HLW are a crucial component both for the handling and emplacement of the waste and (depending on the safety concept) as a barrier for ensuring post-closure safety of the repository. As the inventory, geology and safety concept differs from country to country, various types of containers are being developed worldwide.
The session should give an overview over current developments in Germany and internationally regarding containers for final disposal of HLW, both from the regulatory and implementer side.

Ideas for contributions:

Presentations of research projects related to HLW final disposal containers in Germany, e.g. by BASE, BAM, BGE, GNS
Presentations of international container concepts (e.g. from Switzerland, Sweden, Czechia)