Prüfung von Abdichtbauwerken für Endlager auf Risse – eine Herausforderung.

In 2011, the German Bundestag decided to phase out nuclear energy. The resulting waste will remain highly radioactive for many hundreds of thousands of years and represents a considerable danger for future generations. This radioactive waste is to be safely disposed of in deep geological formations (e. g. salt, clay or crystalline). The repositories will be sealed by means of engineered barrier systems. The impermeability of these structures is indispensable. In the current research phase, various materials are being investigated and methods for monitoring the structures are being developed. In this context, the investigation of cracks is a priority topic. In recent years, extensive experience in the investigation of in‐situ test objects in full scale were gained. The measurements were performed in the Morsleben repository for radioactive waste at the test structure for the in‐situ experiment "Sealing structure in rock salt" and in the Teutschenthal mine at the large‐scale GV2 test structure. With a newly developed ultrasonic measuring system it has been possible to achieve penetration depths of up to approx. 9.0 m. Measurements with the Large Aperture Ultrasonic System in combination with the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique reconstruction method show that the non‐destructive testing of sealing structures is possible and the use of the measuring system for quality assurance in the construction of sealing structures is promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]