ABSTRACT
Since 2013, the search for a site for a repository for high-level radioactive waste has started again in Germany. For many decades, the development of repository concepts and safety analyzes for a repository in a salt dome was prioritized in Germany. The aim of a comparative site selection process is to find a site by 2031 that offers the best possible safety for the containment of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) for a period of 1 million years. Demonstration of long-term safety absolutely requires the systematic proof of the barrier integrity, mainly regarding geological and geomechanical aspects. Compared to clay and crystalline rocks salt rocks, especially as “salt pillow” have important safety advantages: (1) Sufficient thickness of the Stassfurt rock salt (several 100m thick); (2) A natural multi-barrier system through lithological alternation of clay/salt rocks, which is extremely robust against external influences (e.g. erosion, leaching, earthquakes); (3) geologically simple (easily predictable) geological and structural situation.
