Tunnel packer system of the CFM project in the Grimsel rock laboratory. Image: Franz Rinderknecht/KIT
Tunnel packer system of the CFM project in the Grimsel rock laboratory. Image: Franz Rinderknecht/KIT - Geologists investigate the stability of the geotechnical barrier bentonite for the final disposal of nuclear waste Even after the official decision to phase out of nuclear power in Germany, one question remains unanswered: Where to store safely the nuclear waste? Despite all the political explosiveness with which the topic is directly linked, it is often forgotten that the search for the optimal location of a deep geological repository for nuclear waste is above all a task for science. The Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Germany is also involved. Together with colleagues from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Gesellschaft für Anlagenund Reaktorsicherheit (GRS), Jena geologists at the Grimsel Test Site (GTS, Switzerland) an international underground rock laboratory are researching materials and systems that are foreseen as a geotechnical barrier in a possible repository. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) is financing the "KOLLORADO-e3" project with around one million euros over the next three years - around 375,000 euros will go to project manager Thorsten Schäfer from the University of Jena. " Clay rock, rock salt or crystalline rock such as granite are possible host rocks for a deep geological repository ," says Thorsten Schäfer from the University of Jena. " During our work, we are currently concentrating on crystalline rock and are particularly examining what happens when repository systems come into contact with low mineralised water typical of cold and ice ages.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
