Shaft or Ramp?

In June 2021, BGE TECHNOLOGY GmbH launched a new R&D project to compare the long-term safety of closure systems in shafts and ramps. The access into a repository in a deep geological formation is, as in conventional mining as well, a crucial bottleneck for the operation of such facilities. All personnel and material transports have to pass the surface connections and the underground facility is supplied with all the necessary media. The direct connection between the biosphere and the underground openings represents a potential inflow or outflow path of fluids after closure. Thus, the sealing system plays an important role within the multi-barrier system of a repository. Despite this great importance, operational, operational safety-relevant and economic criteria are usually taken into account in the selection and design of the surface connections. Within the framework of the new R&D project, therefore, aspects relevant to long-term safety in the closure are to be investigated and the two basic concepts of a shaft or a ramp are to be evaluated. The analysis will serve to compare the systems and will provide an additional basis for decision-making on the choice of such a surface connection.

The LARYSSA R&D project is funded by the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (PTKA) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and will run from June 2021 to May 2023.