Scope and Objectives of the Workshop

This workshop is the second in a series dealing with geosphere stability for various host rock types (i.e. crystalline rocks, argillaceous rocks and evaporites). It focused on crystalline rock – a term that, in this context, is meant to include all types of hard, fractured rock – i.e. those not otherwise planned to be covered by the other workshops in the series focused on clay or salt environments. In particular, this workshop was designed to include the various hard rocks being investigated by the USA and Japan as potential host environments for geological disposal, e.g. tuffs. An important objective of the overall “geosphere stability” initiative under the NEA IGSC is to ensure that the views of the broader scientific community are taken into account in developing an understanding of geosphere stability that can be applied to the management of radioactive waste. 