Project Entsorgungsnachweis, 'Demonstration of disposal feasibility for SF/HLW/ILW in the Opalinus Clay of the Zuercher Weinland', Background, Objectives and Overview

Juerg Schneider (Nagra, Switzerland) described the project on the Opalinus Clay (Project Entsorgungsnachweis, demonstration of disposal feasibility for SF/HLW/ILW in the Opalinus Clay of the Zuercher Weinland) for which the main objective is to demonstrate disposal feasibility and to provide input to the decision how to proceed. The report structure was described, the focus of the presentation being the report that aimed to provide a comprehensive assessment of long-term safety. The current situation was described in the presentation as follows: - The key need is to provide arguments for having proposed a good system for which there is sufficient understanding to allow a credible safety evaluation. - Alternative options exist, on which attention is maintained by a task-force. However, Nagra is confident in its results on Project Entsorgungsnachweis, given the knowledge base that currently exists, and has put forward a proposal, for consideration by the Swiss Government, to focus future work on the Opalinus Clay (OPA) of the Zuercher Weinland. - Making the safety case requires a proper integration of science, engineering and safety assessment. - Three key issues were identified in making a safety case: completeness, sufficient safety, and robustness to diminish the importance of uncertainties. - A safety case needs to be adequate to support a decision to proceed to the next stage in the programme, with multiple arguments including the existence of reserve FEP's. - The interacting functions of the relevant teams were viewed as a key component of the process of preparing a safety case: management; science; safety assessment; bias audit. During the discussion, the role of the bias team was recognised as being helpful to ensure completeness, as well as using the NEA FEP database as a check list. When speaking about sufficient safety, it should not imply predictive capability but rather that there is enough confidence in the current level of understanding to reliably bound the consequences, and that there is a continuing program for expanding and refining that understanding