International Experience in Repository Site Selection: BGE TEC Contributes to IAEA Technical Document

From 3 to 7 May 2026, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) convened a Consultancy Meeting in Vienna to advance the preparation of a technical document addressing site selection criteria for radioactive waste disposal programmes. The meeting brought together an international core group of experts tasked with developing a structured synthesis of experience and lessons learnt from national site selection procedures across eleven programmes at different stages of development.

The initiative was launched following a request from member states at a plenary session of the IAEA's Underground Research Facilities (URF) Network in 2019. Although the network's name refers specifically to underground research facilities, its scope of work encompasses all aspects of the deep geological repository (DGR) roadmap, including the early stages of programme development. The technical document is intended to support countries that are in the process of establishing their national radioactive waste management programmes and have not yet initiated a formal site selection procedure.

Dr. Andree Lommerzheim of BGE TECHNOLOGY GmbH (BGE TEC) has been a member of the core expert group since its establishment. He reported on the German experience in the site selection procedure, contributed to the drafting and revision of the technical document and participates in the plenary sessions at which draft texts are presented to the broader group of contributing countries for comment and discussion. The document analyses the national reports and identifies similarities, differences, and lessons learnt of the different site selection procedures.

Three Approaches to Site Selection

A central issue reflected in the technical document concerns the methodological diversity of national site selection procedures. The programmes examined can be broadly assigned to three basic approaches: the consent-based or volunteering approach, in which the agreement of host communities constitutes a prerequisite for site selection; the geoscientific and technical approach, based primarily on scientific and technical criteria; and a hybrid approach combining elements of both. Across all three types, the procedures share the principle of stepwise narrowing the investigation area, supported by a continuously expanding base of data and information.

The site selection criteria are the basis of regional screening. They must consider international and national regulatory frameworks and national policies, as well as crucial aspects of safety assessment, e.g. waste inventories, national safety strategies, country-specific geological and climatic characteristics, environmental protection requirements, and socio-economic aspects including stakeholder involvement.

Regional Adaptation

The current draft of the technical document on site selection is based on the experience of a few advanced countries in Europe, Canada, Japan and Korea. At the last plenary session in November 2025, it became thus evident that the country-specific boundary conditions of other starting countries in South America, Africa, Asia etc. require more explicit treatment in the draft document. This concerns geological characteristics such as seismicity, volcanism and tectonic activity, projected climatic developments in tropical and arid zones where future glacial periods are not anticipated, and cultural, religious, and political aspects relevant to the involvement of indigenous communities. The draft document was revised accordingly following the plenary discussion.

Context and Next Steps

The Consultancy Meeting in May 2026 marks a further step in a process that has been under way since 2019. The technical document is expected to be finalised in 2027 and will provide the international disposal community with a structured reference on site selection approaches and experience applicable across a wide range of national and geological contexts.

BGE TEC's contribution to this initiative is consistent with its broader involvement in IAEA activities in the field of radioactive waste management.