Institute of Geonics participates in the enlargement of the Bukov URF

In the middle of January 2021, the enlargement of the Bukov Underground Research Laboratory (URF), built between 2013 and 2016, has been started. The new facility will also be located on the 12th level of the Rozna I mine, 350 meters eastward from the R7S shaft and approximately one kilometer north from the already existing Bukov URF, at a depth of about 550 meters below the Earth's surface. The new facility Bukov URF – phase II will consist of eight laboratory tunnels with a profile of 14.8 m² and with a total length of 532 meters, and of two connecting ventilation gates with a profile of 7.7 m² and with a total length of 83 meters. Furthermore, realization of up to 24 testing rooms with a total length of 240 meters is expected.

In connection with the enlargement of the Bukov URF by the so-called second phase, the Czech Radioactive Waste Repository Authority awarded a public procurement for Geological and geotechnical characterization of the rock environment - Bukov URF II at the beginning of December 2020. The objective is to perform complex geological, hydrogeological, geophysical, geomechanical and other measurements both in situ (i.e. directly in the rock mass environment) and laboratory conditions. The purpose of these research works is a detailed characterization of the rock environment in laboratory tunnels newly excavated during the enlargement of the Bukov URF – phase II. The Bukov II company, formed by the Czech Geological Survey, SG Geotechnika a.s., INSET s.r.o., and the Institute of Geonics of the CAS, has been selected as a supplier. The public procurement implementation has begun on March 8, 2021 and will be completed on March 8, 2025.

Participation in the selected consortium will provide the Institute of Geonics with the opportunity to continue in the process of preparation of a deep geological repository of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in the Czech Republic, based on previous projects such as Data acquisition from the deep horizons of the Rozna mine, Comprehensive geological characterization of URF Bukov, Preliminary assessment of the candidate sites in terms of long-term safety or Formation and monitoring of the Excavation Damage Zone during the construction of URF Bukov.