INTERA’s Alexandros Papafotiou, Vice President, Swiss and International Programs, Chao Li, Director of Swiss Operations, Staff Engineers Dominik Zbinden, and Mohamed Hayek, and Michael J. Hannon, Geoscientist, have co-authored an article featured in the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute’s (MDPI) Special Issue, “The Role of Numerical Modelling in the Development of a Geologic Repository for Radioactive Waste”, published August 23, 2022. The article is entitled, “Site Selection for a Deep Geological Repository in Switzerland: The Role of Performance Assessment Modeling” and presents the development and implementation of a modeling workflow aimed at comparing three potential siting areas for a deep geological repository (DGR) in Switzerland from the viewpoint of long-term safety. The analyses presented in this paper demonstrate the ability of performance assessment models to support a site selection process and how these strengthen the argumentation submitted by the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) to the regulatory authorities. To view the full article, visit: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/17/6121/htm

Following this work, Nagra has announced their proposal of Nördlich Lägern as the site for the deep geological repository. This is a major milestone for the multiple decades long project and highlights that the performance assessment work completed by INTERA had a significant influence in the site selection decision-making. To learn more, visit: https://nagra.ch/en/nagra-proposes-nordlich-lagern-as-the-site-for-a-repository/