INTRODUCTION TO THE KONRAD REPOSITORY

Peter Brennecke

Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS)

Salzgitter, Germany

IAEA - DISPONET Workshop

" Waste Acceptance Criteria For Disposal of Very Low,

Low, and Intermediate Level Waste "

Peine / Salzgitter, Germany, September 28 - 30, 2010

Basic Responsibilities

Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz is

the competent authority for the

construction and the operation of

repositories (Section 23, Atomic

Energy Act)

The Federal State (Bund) has to

construct facilities for engineered

long-term storage and disposal of

radioactive waste (Section 9a,

Atomic Energy Act)

Konrad Repository(LLW, ILW, short - lived and long - lived)

Iron Ore Deposit

Geological Cross Section of the Konrad Site

iron ore deposit

(Upper Jurassic, Malm)

12 to 18 m thick

thick mudstone layers

(Lower Cretaceous)

200 to 400 m thick

Geology of the Konrad Site

• Iron ore sediment deposited about 150 million years ago during

the Upper Jurassic (Malm).

• Sedimentary oolithic iron ore layer (12 m to 14 m thick)

stratigraphically forms part of the Middle Coral Oolith.

• Overlying Cretaceous strata mainly consist of clayish rock and

completely cover the iron ore sediment by a transgression.

• Actual geological barrier to near-surface groundwater built up

by Lower Cretaceous clay layers (Thickness of the over-burden

barrier: 200 m to 400 m).

• Good quality of the Upper Cretaceous barrier proved by means

of a variety of laboratory analyses.

Konrad Repository Project - Time-table

1975 Preliminary Investigations

1982 License Application

1992 / 1993 Public Inquiry (75 days, about

290,000 objections)

2002 Issue of the License

2007 Termination of the Court Cases, License Valid

2007 / 2009 Preparation of Construction Work

2009 Start of Construction Work

Konrad Licensing Procedure (1)

• On August 31, 1982, PTB applied for a license to turn the

former iron ore mine into a repository.

• Additional site investigations performed by BGR between

1982 and 1989.

• Definition of “non - heat generating waste“: rock temperature

increase < 3 K by waste package emplacement.

• Final license application in April 1990 (version 4/90).

• Public display of documents and public participation in 1991.

• Longest public hearing in a German nuclear licensing

process from September 1992 to March 1993 for 75 days.

Konrad Licensing Procedure (2)

• Agreement between the Federal Government and

German utilities on June 14, 2000:

Termination of the Konrad licensing procedure

according to law.

Withdrawal of application for immediate

enforcement.

• Withdrawal realized by BfS 3 days later.

• License issued by the competent licensing authority

NMU on May 22, 2002.

• Duration of licensing procedure: about 20 years.

Konrad Repository - Court Cases

• License was immediately sued by several communities and private persons.

• Decision of the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) Lüneburg on March 8, 2006:

License issued for the Konrad repository on May 22, 2002, is legal.

Court rejected all safety - related objections of the plaintiffs.

Court denied possibility of lodging an appeal.

• Plaintiffs complained about the non - admission of an appeal at the Federal Administrative Court (BVG Leipzig).

• BVG Leipzig rejected complaint on March 27, 2007.

Konrad Repository (1)

Mudstone overburden 300

m to 400 m thick; no

connection to ground-

water - bearing horizons

Main

characteristics

800 m to 1,300 mEmplacement

depth

Coral Oolite, about 150

million years oldHost rock

Salzgitter, Federal State of

Lower Saxony, GermanyLocation

Abandoned iron ore mineHistory

Type of waste Radioactive waste with negligible heat generation (i.e., LLW and ILW, short-lived and long-lived)

Volume of waste packages

Planned: about 650,000 m3

Licensed: max. 303,000 m3

Expected: about 280,000 m3 until 2040

Total activity Licensed: 5.0 · 1018 Bq /-emitter

1.5 · 1017 Bq -emitter

Expected: 8.0 · 1016 Bq until 2040

Period of operation 30 (to about 40) years - to be decided

Konrad Repository (2)

old mining areas,

not for disposal

excavation for radioactive waste

sewage

shaft

Konrad 1

shaft

Konrad 2

disposal of

radioactive waste

emplacement

area (controlled

area)

Main features:

• Strict separation of

waste package and debris

transports

• Parallel ventilation of

conventional and nuclear

areas

fresh air

return air (conventional)

return air (contaminated)

debris transport path

transport path for

radioactive waste

Konrad Repository Operational and Ventilation Scheme

Planned

new buildings

Shaft Konrad 1Future function:

• Air intake shaft

• Transport of

material and staff

Aerial view of 2002

Shaft Area Konrad 1

Planned

new buildings

Aerial view of 2002 Future function:

• Exhaust air shaft

• Waste disposal shaft

Shaft Area Konrad 2

Shaft Area Konrad 2 (Present View)

Aerial View of the Konrad 1 and Konrad 2 Sites

Konrad Mine Layout

Emplacement Fields

Location of Planned Emplacement Fields

Stacking of

Containers Type IV

Width: 7 m

Height: 6 m

Length: up to

1,000 m

Emplacement Rooms / Emplacement Fields

Project Target: Konrad Repository Construction

Construction of a Repository for Radioactive Waste with Negligible

Heat Generation (i.e., LLW and ILW, short-lived and long-lived)

according to:

• the Regulations and Instructions of the Konrad License, and of

• four Water Law Permits, as well as

• about 560 Additional Requirements and 18 Hints Imposed by the

Licensing Authority, and

• Observing the Regulations Given in the Main Operating Plan.

Start of Construction: Assembling of New Cable Trays

Waste Package Delivery by Railroad

Unloading of Waste Packages

Waste Package Handling in the Unloading Hall

Waste Package Handling in the Unloading Hall

Reloading onto the Transportation Vehicle

(Shaft Bottom)

Stacking Truck and Transportation Vehicle

Emplacement of Waste Packages

(Stacking Technique)

Waste Package Emplacement Vehicles

Electric Vehicle (Prototype)