Held : 23 October – 1 November, 2006

Meiringen, Switzerland
Course Programme : PDF file 30 kb

Course Outline

This is an extended and updated version of our regular ‘Fundamentals’ course which ranges across all key aspects and topical issues concerned with managing a geological disposal programme (previous ‘Fundamentals’ courses were held in 2003 and 2004 ). The extended 2006 course includes a two-day practical exercise in the underground Grimsel Test Site.

The 8-day programme for 2006 consists of;

1. Lectures on topics ranging from evaluating the wastes to be disposed of, right through all the technical stages of identifying and implementing geological disposal to the societal interactions required of repository development projects. Sufficient time will be allocated for questions and discussions in each presentation module.
2. Evening sessions will encourage more active roles for the participants, such as presenting their own perspectives on their national programmes and discussing with tutors and other participants from around the world.
3. A 2-day mid-week programme of in-situ , hands- on training and exercises in the GTS (Grimsel Test Site : Nagra’s Underground Research Laboratory in granite http://www.grimsel.com/ ) will enable participants to be learn directly about experiments to demonstrate the feasibility and safety of geological disposal.

The course is ideal for those involved in any component of national programmes. The previous fundamental courses were attended by participants from a wide range of stakeholders in sectors such as national/provincial level decision-making authorities, implementing and regulating organisations, research organisations and universities, including both Member and non-member organisations of the ITC-School.

Course Organiser

The course is organised by the ITC-School in collaboration with, and supported by, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) within its network on Training and Demonstration of Waste Disposal Technologies in Underground Research Facilities (http://www-tc.iaea.org/tcweb/default.asp).

The local host organisation is Nagra (National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste ( www.nagra.ch).

Teaching

The course will be held in an informal, workshop atmosphere and participants will be encouraged to interact and question at all times. Each course topic will be taught by highly qualified and internationally recognised specialists from around the world. They will provide the most up to date and comprehensive information and discussions. Course materials will be provided for each topic. Modules will generally be taught in the morning and late afternoon, with an extended lunch and afternoon study break. In addition, there will be evening sessions for free discussion and information exchange. The course language is English and course materials are printed in English.

Participants from IAEA Technical Co-operation Project

The IAEA will finalise arrangements for the INT 9.173 Technical Co-operation Project "Training in Radioactive Waste Disposal Technologies in Underground Research Facilities", of which this course is a part. A draft prospectus will be circulated by IAEA to target countries in the scheme which explains the application procedure and the support arrangements. Participants from the countries within the IAEA training scheme (Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, the Peoples Republic of China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, India, Lithuania, Kazakstan, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania, Republic of South Africa, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine) should contact responsible officers at the Agency as below.

Mr. Mykola Kurylchyk Department of Technical Co-operation, ext. 26368 e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Malcolm Gray, Technical Officer, Department of Nuclear Energy, Division of Waste Management and the Fuel Cycle, IAEA for details: Tel. ++ 43 1 2600 21535; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it