Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 2: Nuclear Fuel Cycle

AGA 2.3: Talk

Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 18:00–18:30, KH 00.016

Safeguards Monitoring in Geological Repositories - Physics, Systematics, Interfaces, and Constraints — •Matthias Englert — Öko-Institut, Rheinstraße, 95 Darmstadt

We outline a technical framework to integrate safeguards-relevant monitoring into the context of long-term safety for deep geological repositories. The approach maps monitoring measures (e.g., passive seismics, borehole radar, antineutrino detection, myon tomography) to Features-Events-Processes (FEP) catalogues and to safety functions (containment, isolation, retardation) across salt, clay, and crystalline host rocks. Using THMC classification and life-cycle phases (operation, closure, post-closure), we identify influence pathways such as direct paths via installation, heat, or mechanical perturbations, and indirect paths such as signal interpretation and scenario screening. The framework supports completeness and consistency checks by grouping by physics principle, intrusiveness, range, or system coupling and describes trade-offs between verification demands and barrier integrity. Preliminary results emphasize standardised tabulation for comparability, explicit treatment of uncertainties, and criteria for selecting complementary techniques. The aim is a transparent, auditable coupling of safeguards information with safety assessment reasoning rather than a new safety methodology.