Deep geological repository

NAGRA, the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, is the Swiss technical competence centre in the field of deep geological disposal of radioactive waste. It is a cooperative of nuclear power plant operators and the state. NAGRA is undertaking detailed technical clarifications for and before the search for locations, and the spatial planning is being done with the “sectoral plan for deep geological repositories”. A sectoral plan is a planning instrument which is successfully applied for more than 100 years.

Safety barriers of geological deep repository; above technical barriers for short-lived low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste and below for high-level radioactive waste. On the right geological barriers.

The concept part of the sectoral plan for deep geological repositories, which defines the criteria which a location must meet and the procedure was passed on 02.04.2008 by the federal council. The location search takes place in three phases and will take around fifteen years.

On 30.11.2011 the federal council approved the interim report for Phase 1 and decided to add the six locations proposed by NAGRA, “Jura Ost”, “Jura-Südfuss”, “Nördlich Lägern”, “Südranden”, “Wellenberg” and “Zürich Nordost” to the sectoral plan for deep geological repositories. This initiated phase 2 of the location search.

The focus of phase 1 was on the identification of suitable site locations based on technical safety and geological criteria. NAGRA suggested the site locations based on existing geological knowledge. The federal office for spatial development together with the affected cantons has defined a planning parameter for the geological site locations, within which phase 2 locations can be suggested for surface facilities. An assessment methodology has been created, which will be used in phase 2, for the assessment of these locations in cooperation with the spatial planning working group.

Participation is at the core of phase 2: The site location regions have the possibility to participate in the refinement of the repository projects as well as the socio-economic and spatial planning effects. In addition to this, the locations are compared on a technical safety basis before NAGRA proposes at least two locations per waste category. The NAGRA proposal for the locations was published on 30.01.2015.

Source: http://www.bfe.admin.ch/radioaktiveabfaelle/01375/04389/index.html?lang=en