Grimsel 2000 - Status of international projects at the Grimsel Test Site (GTS)

During 17 years of cooperation, the Grimsel underground test site in the Swiss Alps has become established as a major center for study of the deep geological environment. The present Phase V of operation involves collaboration of 15 organizations from 9 countries. The 7 major projects currently running can be divided into 3 areas: Confirmation of fundamental understanding and testing of models of processes identified to be significant in integrated performance assessment Demonstration and optimization of site characterization technology Demonstration of the technology for constructing and operating a deep repository in an efficient and quality assured manner. This sub-division of projects is somewhat simplistic as, wherever possible, large, long-running experiments are designed to achieve a number of goals. The paper will provide a summary of some projects running at Grimsel, an overview of the rationale behind the experimental concepts and a perspective on possible future work.