General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (23–28 April 2023)

Dear colleagues,

Nowadays, there is international consensus that the disposal of high-level radioactive waste in deep geologic formations is the appropriate management solution for such materials as well as for other, particularly for long-lived, radioactive waste. Geological and surface disposal of radioactive waste is a challenge particularly, but not only, for geoscientists. Geoscience has to be connected with engineering, and disposal projects have to be implemented in a sometimes challenging societal environment. Disposal sites have to be selected and characterised based on sound geologic expertise and in a way allowing for appropriate (geo-)technical concepts to be implemented and accounting for the relevant political, legal and other societal conditions. Safety has to be demonstrated by means of assessments utilizing geoscientific and technical information and data. In other words, both excellent geoscience and a well-founded interdisciplinary perspective are needed.

In order to provide a platform for scientific exchange on the different aspects of this issue, a series of three sessions at the 2023 General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (23–28 April 2023) (https://www.egu23.eu/), has been developed by three interdisciplinary and international teams in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and USA::

• “Deep Geological Disposal – Geosciences behind regulatory, technical and social challenges: best practices and lessons learned” (https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU23/session/46433)
• “Deep Geological Repositories – characterization of barrier materials and assessment of barrier integrity” (https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU23/session/46428)
• “Geological Repositories – Geosciences in the assessment of radionuclide migration and long-term evolution of the geosphere” (https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU23/session/46432)

The sessions will be held in connection and build upon each other. We – the conveners and co-conveners – strongly encourage geo- and other scientists working on disposal or related issues to submit abstracts for these sessions (deadline for abstract submission is 10 January 2023) We are looking forward to meeting you in Vienna and having fruitful exchanges on a challenging but highly interesting topic.

“The EGU General Assembly 2023 brings together geoscientists from all over the world to one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. The EGU aims to provide a forum where scientists, especially early career researchers, can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geoscience.” (from https://www.egu23.eu/)