NAWG-18 venue, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, UK

Image courtesy Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester

Workshop Overview

NAWG (Natural Analogue Working Group, chair Dr Heini Reijonen, Geological Survey of Finland), in association with Prof Kevin Taylor (University of Manchester, UK), Prof Simon Norris (Nuclear Waste Services and University of Manchester, UK) and Dr Russell Alexander (BG, Switzerland), is pleased to invite you to the 18th NAWG workshop, to be held in Manchester, UK, on 9-11th June, 2026.

The NAWG-18 workshop will be an opportunity to explore recent developments in the use of natural analogues (NA) in the field of geological disposal of radioactive waste. Extensive scope of NAs is reflected in the preliminary topical session list (below), but we are also happy to receive proposals for additional sessions. The scope covers all geological disposal concepts for HLW, ILW, LLW, including alternative concepts.

Preliminary Schedule

Monday, 8th June: Travel to Manchester, ice breaker in the evening.

Tuesday, 9th June: Workshop sessions

Wednesday, 10th June: Workshop sessions and workshop dinner

Thursday, 11th June: Workshop sessions (morning, closing 12:00), field trip (afternoon, closing ~17:00)

Posters will be on display throughout the workshop (session reserved for Tuesday afternoon)

Preliminary Topical Sessions

• Siting and site characterisation
  • NA studies in support of repository siting
  • Direct NA technical input to site characterisation
  • Using NAs to communicate with local communities
• NAs in stakeholder communications
  • What has been achieved so far?
  • Previous mistakes made through over-simplification of the messages
  • Where to now – examples of current thinking, how to learn from science on other media?
• NA in the safety case
  • Recent examples of NA support of the safety case
  • What should NA bring to the safety case – the view of the regulator
  • Use of NA information in licence applications
• Longevity of the engineered barrier systems (EBS)
  • Waste forms
  • Waste packages
  • Buffers, backfills, seals, earth covers
• Host rock studies
  • External processes (climate, biosphere, seismicity etc.) potentially affecting repository performance
  • Radionuclide migration in the geosphere
  • Impact of potential EBS-host rock interaction
  • Deep borehole disposal – relevant analogues for deep geosphere
• Knowledge management (KM)
  • How to ensure inclusion of NAs in national/international programmes (e.g. EURATOM, IAEA, NEA)?
  • What can/should NAWG contribute?
  • NA Knowledge Management examples

Participation & Submissions

To express interest in attending the workshop or to submit session ideas, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The registration form and abstract template will be uploaded soon to NAWG website. There will be a small registration fee covering coffee/teas/finger food, conference dinner /field trip.

Important dates

Abstract submission deadline: end of March 2026

Registration deadline: May 15^th 2026

Full paper deadline: End of July 2026.

Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) Natural Analogue Catalogue update and NA Strategy report have been added to the NAWG Library. They can be downloaded under NA Overviews.

Or, just click the report images!

The 2024 workshop (18-19th September) took place successfully at the University of Hokkaido, providing a good overview of the application of NAs in repository safety cases. In addition, group discussions were held on how to improve the use of NA studies in future safety case development in Japan and on their application in stakeholder communications.

Further information on the outcome of the workshop will be provided by NUMO at a later date.

Natural Analogue Workshop (Japan) 2024 venue, University of Hokkaido, Japan

NAWG-17 Workshop Proceedings published

The 17th NAWG workshop was organized by the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb, and the Natural Analogues Working Group (NAWG), 8-11 May 2023 in Zadar.

On the link NAWG-17 you can download proceedings of the workshop located at http://www.rgn.unizg.hr website. Proceedings prepared & published by:

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum
Engineering
Pierottijeva 6, p.p. 390
10000 Zagreb
The Republic of Croatia
www.rgn.unizg.hr 

See also presentation here online at NAWG website.

NAWG-15 Workshop Proceedings published

NAWG-15 Proceedings have been published as an Bedrock Geosciences Technical Report at natural-analogues.com website. You can download yours here.

The 15th NAWG Workshop was held from Tuesday, 23rd to Thursday, 25th May, 2017 at the ÚJV laboratory, Řež, Prague in the Czech Republic.

On Friday 26th May there was a Field trip to SÚRAO’s Bukov URL in the former Rozna uranium mine.

The workshop was held with the kind support of  ÚJV Řež, a.s. and SÚRAO

Presentations from NAWG-17 workshop held in Zadar, Croatia, have been uploaded at NAWG website. Have a look here.

Tony Milodowski and his co-authors have described the salinity and redox evolution in a deep coastal groundwater system. The results indicate long-term stability in a deep hydrochemical system despite repeated glaciations and associated sea level changes throughout the Quaternary.

The document can be found in our document library, or downloaded directly pdf here(3.86 MB) . pdf
(3.86 MB)

Posiva, Finland, have recently released a new assessment of the potential impact of alkali, cementitious leachates from their L/ILW repository on their SF repository. The new study, Posiva Working Report 2017-03 (which can be downloaded here), builds on information from several NA studies, including work in Jordan (Maqarin) and Northern Ireland (Scawt Hill). See also Posiva Working Report 2007-35 (here) and SKB Report 12-17 (here).

In 2015, Springer Journals asked the Editors-in-Chiefs of their journals to pick one article they published in 2015 that addressed the world's most pressing challenges ....