Morsleben repository (ERAM)
BGR carries out geoscientific work for the BGE in the context of the plan approval procedure for the decommissioning of the Morsleben repository for radioactive waste (ERAM).
The Morsleben repository for radioactive waste (ERAM) was set up in the abandoned Bartensleben potash and rock salt mine in the former GDR. The license to operate the repository was transferred to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) following German unification. Low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste was deposited until 1998. In 2005, the BfS applied to the Ministry of the Environment of the state of Saxony-Anhalt for a planning approval procedure for the decommissioning of the repository. In April 2017, the Federal Company for Final Disposal (BGE) took over operator responsibility from the BfS. The aim is still to decommission the repository while leaving the waste in place.
The Morsleben repository is now in the approval procedure for decommissioning. As a data basis for the safety analysis in this plan approval procedure, BGR is preparing geoscientific documents on the geology of the repository site, its future geological development and the integrity of the salt barrier between the emplacement areas and the aquifer in the overburden.
BGR has carried out a large number of investigations since 1990, e.g. electromagnetic measurements during helicopter overflights, seismic investigations of the overburden, petrophysical analyses of rock samples, laboratory experiments to determine the strength and deformability of the rocks and the creeping behavior of the various types of salt. Furthermore borehole tests to determine permeability, geomechanical finite element calculations to determine the stresses and deformations in the mine workings, continuous monitoring of micro-acoustic emissions from the rock and extensive georadar measurements were conducted.