Repository authority begins exploratory drilling for deep radioactive waste repository

The Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (SÚRAO) announced the start of monitoring borehole drilling at sites being investigated as potential future locations for a deep geological repository for nuclear waste. Hydrogeological boreholes are first in line, while the tender for the subsequent deep boreholes had to be cancelled. The EU taxonomy is putting pressure on the timetable for commissioning the deep repository.

At the end of 2020, the government approved the selection of four recommended sites for a deep geological repository for radioactive waste. These are Březový potok in the Klatovy region, Horka between Třebíč and Velké Meziříčí, Hrádek near Jihlava, and Janoch near Temelín. Municipalities have long opposed the repository plans and last year decided to continue their opposition through the courts. The Municipal Court dismissed the lawsuits, most recently in March this year. SÚRAO has now taken another step towards building the deep geological repository for radioactive waste.

“This is an important milestone in the process of selecting the final and backup sites. For the first time, we will look directly underground through boreholes and refine the knowledge obtained so far from the surface. We will describe the geological environment in greater detail and gain a better understanding of it, providing high-quality data for selecting the final and backup sites,” SÚRAO Director Lukáš Vondrovic commented on this stage.