iCross

The interdisciplinary project "iCross" bundles research and development expertise in the Helmholtz Association on the subjects of radiochemistry, geosciences, life sciences and numerical simulations of environmental systems in a cross-research project. Processes that have not been fully understood from the molecular to the regional scale are examined, evaluated and described. The aim is to plan and carry out laboratory experiments, to derive parameters and to model relevant processes across scales using advanced simulation methods (that require several numerical upscaling treatments). The simulations are validated experimentally, partly in underground laboratories. The focus here is on work in the Mt. Terri rock laboratory (CH; Opalinus clay), where a new test tunnel is being excavated with the strong participation of German partners. Further investigations take place in the Grimsel rock laboratory (CH; crystalline rock). The work focuses on host rocks (crystalline and clay), which were not the major focus of German repository research in the past.