Each and every geological disposal project requires the collection of large amounts of information on
its progress throughout the facility’s lifecycle. This information is based on the monitoring and
surveillance of the selected site, built structures and their surrounding environment. Monitoring is carried
out to assist in the decision-making process, to collect site-relevant information for the creation of an
environmental database, to gain an understanding and to verify the performance of the disposal system, to
demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements and to provide information for the various
stakeholders.
The task of monitoring can, in principle, be addressed by answering a number of simple questions
such as why, what, how and when to measure, and how to use/interpret the results. The monitoring
programme begins in the initial phases of disposal facility siting and may continue following closure. Even
if the scope and extent of the programme changes with respect to the specific requirements of particular
lifecycle stages, certain parameters should be verified continuously. However, the completeness of the
selection of such parameters cannot yet be verified since, except for seldom cases, as WIPP in the USA,
most of the advanced geological disposal projects have not yet reached the facility construction stage.
