// Long-term Safety Studies

SUSE

Safety analytical investigations into repository systems in crystalline formations

The basis of the SUSE project is the agreement reached in 2001 between the former Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom, later Rosatom) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) for German-Russian cooperation in international research and development regarding the disposal of high-level radioactive waste in crystalline rocks. Over the past 15 years, joint research and development activities have been conducted, based on the results of exploration work at several crystalline sites in the Nishnekansker region (near Krasnoyarsk), and since 2006, focusing on investigations at the Yeniseysky site. In the SUSE project, safety analytical investigations into repository systems in crystalline formations at the Yeniseysky site are continued. The investigations include the development of closure concepts, the characterization of the fracturing of crystalline rocks, and the conduct of hydrogeological flow and transport calculations. In coordination with Russian colleagues, laboratory experiments on the mechanical properties of fractured, remobilized host rocks, as well as on the radionuclide retention capacity of crystalline core samples from the study area, are also being conducted. Based on these results, the geological site model for the Yeniseysky study area is updated and refined with respect to the fracture and fault zone network.