INVESTIGATION AND EVALUATION OF THE GORLEBEN SITE - A STATUS-REPORT

The Gorleben salt dome is envisaged for the emplacement of all types o f radioactive waste (total activity about 10(21) Bq. alpha activity ab out 10(19) Bq) at a depth of about 840-1200 m. Site investigations hav e been under way since 1979. The scientific basis for site investigati ons and respective planning and performance assessment are models whic h explain the present situation at the site as a result of the dynamic processes in the past. The assessed long-term consequences of the dis posal system are indicators of safety, which characterise the overall system and subsystems in different time frames. The investigation of t he safety indicators 'flux through barriers' and 'time' proved a past isolation potential of the salt dome for fluid phases of 250 million y ears. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.