RD&D-Programme 2004 - SKB

this cooperation entails that the organizations have personnel at the site who participate in
the execution of different experiments. Several of the participating organizations have started
investigations and experiments beyond those included in SKB’s programme.
The international cooperation makes it possible to gather the world’s foremost experts within
many different disciplines for an exchange of ideas and experience regarding questions of
importance for the disposal of radioactive waste. An example of this is the cooperation that is
taking place in so-called Task Forces consisting of members from the participating organizations.
Such Task Forces exist for modelling of groundwater flow and transport as well as for
modelling of engineered barriers. The results of the international cooperation are published in
a separate report series: Äspö International Progress Reports.
3.4 Coming RD&D-programmes
During the coming programme period, SKB plans to apply for a permit for an encapsulation
plant and has therefore placed the emphasis in RD&D-Programme 2004 on encapsulation
technology. The purpose is to describe the state of development in canister fabrication and
sealing technology, and to obtain the comments of the reviewing bodies prior to submission of
this application. The account is intended to show that methods exist for the various fabrication
and inspection steps that meet stipulated quality requirements and that can be developed to meet
stringent requirements on reliability in the process as well.
The work of developing the deep repository technology and assessing long-term safety is being
pursued in parallel with the work of developing the encapsulation technology. The deep repository
technology is planned to be the focus of RD&D-Programme 2007. Development of the
methodology for safety assessment continues. Next in line is the safety report SR-Can. It will
comprise a part of the supporting documentation for the permit application for the encapsulation
plant and is a first step towards the safety report that will be prepared for the site selected for
the deep repository. A planning report /3-2/ and an interim report /3-3/ have been published and
will be subjected to review and comment by the regulatory authorities. This is an important step
in order to obtain viewpoints on the methodology for the safety assessment. The viewpoints can
then be incorporated in the final version of SR-Can.
The intention is that the structure of the RD&D reports should spotlight those parts of the
activities that are most important at various points in time. According to the plans, the coming
RD&D-programmes will focus on the following parts of the activities, depending on which
phase SKB is in:
• RD&D 2007 Deep disposal technology.
• RD&D 2010 The LILW system.
38 RD&D-Programme 2004