No. 3/20 - Exploratory drilling to start in October 2020

Work has started on exploratory boreholes R 10 and R 11. The drilling sites for the planned boreholes are currently being prepared so that the drilling rig can be set up safely. First, the drilling site for the R 10 borehole north west of the Asse II mine will be prepared. The area required for this is around 11,000 square metres. For comparison: This corresponds roughly to the area of a football field. This will be followed by the construction of the drilling site for borehole R 11. This is located to the west of the mine in the forest. The area is around 5,600 square metres. The construction work will be carried out from Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day. Drilling work is expected to begin in October 2020. The end of the drilling and exploration programme is planned for the end of 2021.

The BGE wants to learn more about the Asse underground

In order to continue to operate the Asse II mine safely and to implement the retrieval of radioactive waste, the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) must learn even more about the underground. After the 3D seismic measurements at the beginning of the year, the BGE will drill two exploratory boreholes from above ground into the overburden of the Asse. The exploratory drilling on the surface is intended to collect information on the geological and hydrogeological situation, the structure of the overburden, and the transition area to the salt rock. Furthermore, the boreholes can provide data on groundwater-bearing strata that could be of importance for influx of solution into the Asse II mine. The results are to be incorporated into the geological and hydrogeological model of the Asse.

The boreholes are 380 m (R 10) and 528 m (R 11) long. Exploratory borehole R 10 runs vertically into the subsoil, and exploratory borehole R 11 is drilled at an angle of 10 degrees. The minimum distances to the existing mine workings are 260 metres (R 10) and 167 metres (R 11). Concerns that the drilling could lead to an increase in the existing influx of solution are not shared by the State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG) and the BGE: The distances between the boreholes and the mine provide sufficient safety.