Nach über 60 Jahren Nutzung ziviler Kernenergie in Deutschland und dem Atomausstieg bis 2022 stellt sich die Frage nach der Endlagerung (hoch-) radioaktiver Abfälle. Für die Endlagersuche in Deutschland trat 2017 das Standortauswahlgesetz (StandAG) in Kraft, das ein partizipatives, wissenschaftsbasiertes und transparentes Verfahren fordert (Deutscher Bundestag, 2020). Um die in diesem Verfahren auftretenden Fragen und Ergebnisse gesellschaftlich und wissenschaftlich fundiert diskutieren zu können, werden von den am Prozess beteiligten Stakeholdern in zunehmendem Maße auch digitale Informationsangebote bereitgestellt. Diese nutzen verschiedene Arten des Informationsdesigns (Umwandlung komplexer Daten in einfachere, nützliche und efektive Informationen, um Bedürfnisse und Ziele Nutzender kontextabhängig zu erfüllen (Herrera, 2013)), u.a. Kartendarstellungen, wie sie auch in anderen partizipativen Verfahren eingesetzt werden, um niederschwellig Information bereitzustellen (Moser et al., 2020). Vertrauen ist besonders wichtig, um den Betroffenen bei der Entscheidung zu helfen, ob sie an öffentlichen Beteiligungsprozessen teilnehmen (Santamaría-Philco & Wimmer, 2018). In früheren Umfragen wurde den verschiedenen Stakeholdern generell ein sehr unterschiedlicher Grad an Vertrauenswürdigkeit zugestanden (Drögemüller, 2017; Hocke, Stolle & Gloede, 2003; TNS Opinion & Social, 2008). Bei kritischer Würdigung der Fähigkeit dieser Stakeholder, die öffentliche Meinung zu beeinflussen, stellt sich die Frage, ob eine Beurteilung des Inhalts anhand des Informationsdesigns oder aufgrund des dem Stakeholder zugestandenen Vertrauens erfolgt. Wissenschaftlichkeit hingegen ist als Kriterium vor allem mit Blick auf das StandAG relevant, welches einen wissenschaftlich fundierten Prozess fordert. Um diese Aspekte zu untersuchen, wurde eine Umfrage durchgeführt. [Aus: Einleitung]

Clay formations are investigated worldwide as potential host rock for the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Usually bentonite is preferred as the buffer and backfill material in the disposal system. In the disposal of HLW, heat emission is one of the most important issues as it can generate a series of complex thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes in the surrounding materials and thus change the material properties. In the context of safety assessment, it is important to understand the thermally induced THM interactions and the associated change in material properties. In this work, the thermally induced coupled THM behaviours in the clay host rock and in the bentonite buffer as well as the corresponding coupling effects among the relevant material properties are numerically analysed. A coupled non-isothermal Richards flow mechanical model and a non-isothermal multiphase flow model were developed based on the scientific computer codes OpenGeoSys (OGS). Heat transfer in the porous media is governed by thermal conduction and advective flow of the pore fluids. Within the hydraulic processes, evaporation, vapour diffusion, and the unsaturated flow field are considered. Darcy’s law is used to describe the advective flux of gas and liquid phases. The relative permeability of each phase is considered. The elastic deformation process is modelled by the generalized Hooke’s law complemented with additional strain caused by swelling/shrinkage behaviour and by temperature change. In this study, special attention has been paid to the analysis of the thermally induced changes in material properties. The strong mechanical and hydraulic anisotropic properties of clay rock are described by a transversely isotropic mechanical model and by a transversely isotropic permeability tensor, respectively. The thermal anisotropy is described by adoption of the bedding-orientation-dependent thermal conductivity. The dependency of the thermal conductivity on the degree of water saturation, the dependency of the thermal effects on the water retention behaviour, and the dependency of the effects of the pore pressure variation on the permeability and the anisotropic swelling/shrinkage behaviour have been intensively analysed and the corresponding numerical models to consider those coupling effects have been developed. The developed numerical model has been applied to simulate the laboratory and in situ heating experiments on the bentonite and clay rock at different scales. Firstly the laboratory heating experiment on Callovo-Oxfordian Clay (COX) and the laboratory long-term heating and hydration experiment on MX80 pellets were simulated. Based on the knowledge from the numerical analysis of the laboratory experiments, a 1:2 scale in situ heating experiment of an integrated system of the bentonite engineered barrier system (EBS) in the Opalinus Clay host rock was simulated. All the relevant operation phases were considered in the modelling. Besides, the modelling was extended to 50 years after the heat shut-down with the aim of predicting the long-term behaviours. Additionally, variation calculations were carried out to investigate the effects of the storage capacity of the Opalinus Clay on the thermally induced hydraulic response. In the long-term modelling, the effects of different saturated water permeabilities of buffer material on the resaturation process were analysed. Based on the current researches and model developments, the observed THM behaviours of the bentonite buffer and the clay rock, that is, the measured evolution of temperature, pore pressure, humidity, swelling pressure, and so on in the laboratory and in situ experiments can be reproduced and interpreted well. It is proved that by using both a non-isothermal multiphase flow model and a non-isothermal Richards flow model combined with the corresponding thermal and mechanical models, the major THM behaviours can be captured. It is validated that the developed model is able to simulate the relevant coupled THM behaviours of clayey material under the well-defined laboratory conditions as well as under the complex natural disposal conditions.

High-level radioactive waste (HLW) poses threat to the biosphere. Geological disposal is accepted as a safe way for HLW disposal. Waste canisters made of Sintered Silicon Carbide (SSiC) are proposed and geomechanical safety aspects relating to such SSiC canisters are investigated. First part of the thesis reviews the state-of-the-art and demands for HLW disposal. The reason for considering Silicon Carbide (SiC) as canister material is explained. Especially in terms of corrosion and lifetime, ceramics and especially SiC is superior to metals or concrete. The only concern is its brittle behavior. The second part of the thesis presents results on static and dynamic mechanical properties of SiC in general and in particular for SSiC based on literature review and own lab tests. Although strength values for SiC and especially SSiC are very high, the extreme brittle behavior has to be considered in case of impact or point-like loading. The third and most extensive part of the thesis part contains numerical simulations, which consider most critical potential loading situations during transport and installation of the canisters underground. Both, pure elastic continuum and DEM based models are used considering the following loading situations (critical scenarios): Freefall of canister during transport or installation (FF), Impact by falling rock block at disposal site (RF), Point loading due to accidental insertion of small stone below the canister (PL), Anisotropic earth pressure loading after disposal (EP). Coating to protect the canisters against damage is investigated and preliminary parameters in terms of stiffness and thickness are recommended.

This report documents the selection of thermodynamic data for lead and lead compounds. Except for elemental lead, it is restricted to lead in the oxidation state +II (plumbous lead). Besides formation constants and, in part, enthalpies of formation and standard entropies, interaction coefficients for the correction of activity coefficients following the Pitzer formalism are provided. Aqueous complexes of lead with chloride, sulphate, and hydroxide are explicitly accounted for in the Pitzer model. Wherever possible, the validity of selected data is tested by recalculating experimental data. The presented data set is valid for 298.15K only.

The mitigation of greenhouse gases, like CO2 is a challenging aspect for our society. A strategy to hamper the constant emission of CO2 is utilizing carbon capture and storage technologies. CO2 is sequestrated in subsurface reservoirs. However, these reservoirs harbor the risk of leakage and appropriate geophysical monitoring methods are needed. A crucial aspect of monitoring is the assignment of measured data to certain events occurring. Especially if changes in the measured data are small, suitable statistical methods are needed. In this thesis, a new statistical workflow based on cluster analysis is proposed to detect similar transient electromagnetic signals. The similarity criteria dynamic time warping, the autoregressive distance, and the normalized root-mean-square distance are investigated and evaluated with respect to the classic Euclidean norm. The optimal number of clusters is determined using the gap statistic and visualized with multidimensional scaling. To validate the clustering results, silhouette values are used. The statistical workflow is applied to a synthetic data set, a long-term monitoring data set and a repeat measurement at a pilot CO2-sequestration site in Brooks, Alberta.