[en] The geosphere is an important barrier retaining radionuclides that have been released from the near field of a waste repository and retarding their return to Man. The assessment models that are used in the current Nirex assessments to describe the groundwater flow in the vicinity of the repository and the transport of radionuclides by the groundwater are summarized, and their data requirements are set out. The Nirex research programme is designed to provide improved and additional data for these models, to deepen the understanding of the important processes and to develop improved models to describe them. This document outlines the status of the assessment models and associated research programme in the spring of 1988. The programme complements existing knowledge in this field. Key areas are measurements of the physical properties of rocks, field and modelling studies of fractured rocks, measurements of sorption onto geological materials, investigation of the possible importance of colloid transport and saline interfaces, transport of naturally occurring elements over geological time-scales in natural geochemical systems, and participation in an international model validation exercise. (author)