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Technical Meeting on Establishing Site Selection Criteria and their Application in the Siting Process for a Deep Geological Disposal Facility
Objectives
Effective site selection criteria are essential for the successful implementation of GDF programme. Establishing site selection criteria and using them as a guidance during the siting process provides a systematic and transparent justification based on the link between those criteria, their application, and the safety, legal, social and stakeholder requirements driving the repository programme. At early stages, these criteria support selection between regions or areas that may or may not hold the potential for hosting a safe geological disposal facility. At successive stages of screening, it provides a basis against which to assess and inform the further selection of favourable sites and ultimately site confirmation.
The purpose of the event is to share insights into site selection criteria and to review the draft publication on site selection criteria for deep geological disposal.
The main objective of the event is to induce a discussion on best practise on site selection criteria development and vice versa on needs and expectations of early stage countries, that would be reflected in the progress of the publication “Siting Process for Geological Disposal Contribution of Site Selection Criteria“. The publication aims to cover siting process, site selection criteria development, their implementation in the siting process, aspects, that influence siting and lessons learnt, based on the advanced programmes, and will be prepared for publication after this meeting.
The main technical topics will be following:
1. Siting process: Best practice gained - advanced countries update;
2. Support needed for site selection criteria development: Presentation of the early-stage programmes;
3. Workshop on site selection criteria: Discussion framed by the IAEA publication under the preparation.
A limited number of grants are available to support the attendance of selected participants provided that, in the IAEA’s view, the participant will make an important contribution to the event. There is no registration fee.
In order to be designated by an IAEA Member State or invited organization, participants are requested to submit their application via the InTouch+ platform by 30 June 2025.
Participants who wish to give presentations are requested to submit an abstract of their work. The abstract should be sent together with the Form for Submission of a Paper (Form B), to the competent national authority (e.g. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Mission to the IAEA or National Atomic Energy Authority) or organization for onward transmission to the IAEA not later than 30 June 2025.