Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical (THMC) Processes in Bentonite Barrier Systems

Haibing Shao works as the staff scientist at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). From 2014 to 2020, he has been working as a Junior Professor at the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology (TUBAF). As one of the main developers of the OpenGeoSys, his expertise is the modelling of reactive transport processes in the subsurface. Since 2018, he has been leading the research group Geothermal and Reactive Transport Processes with the UFZ. His research topics are focusing on the coupled geothermal and geochemical processes in both shallow and deep reservoirs. Currently, he is also serving as the Editor-in-Chief for the journal Geothermal Energy. 

Ju Wang obtained his BS degree from the Nanjing University in 1984, majored in Uranium Geology and Geochemistry. He started his career in Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology (BRIUG) in 1987 and then held a PhD in geology from BRIUG in 1991. He served BRIUG as Chief Engineer during 2004-2008 and Vice-President during 2008-2023. He is now the Chief Scientist of China National Nuclear Corporation in the field of radioactive waste disposal, the Director of China Atomic Energy Authority's Innovation Centre on Geological Disposal of High Level Radioactive Waste, and the Chief Designer of Beishan Underground Research Laboratory (URL) for Geological Disposal of High Level Radioactive Waste. He has been leading China's program on geological disposal of high level radioactive waste since 1999, including strategy development, site selection and site characterization, buffer material study, safety assessment of disposal system, design and construction of underground research laboratory. His achievements have resulted in the confirmation of Xinchang as the URL site and construction of Beishan URL, China's first URL for geological disposal of high level radioactive waste. He is now also the President of Commission of Radioactive Waste Disposal of the International Society of Rock Mechanics and Engineering (ISRM) and the President of Commission of Underground Waste Disposal of Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering (CSRME). 

Thorsten Schäfer holds the chair in Applied Geology at the Friedrich-Schiller University (FSU) Jena. Before he was professor for Chemical Environmental Geology (2014-2017) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with a simultaneous position as deputy Director of the Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal (KIT-INE). Thorsten studied geology at the Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGUM) with the focus on geochemistry/hydrogeology. After completing his doctoral thesis at JGUM (1998), he moved as Postdoc/staff scientist to the soft X-Ray microscopy group at the NSLS, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and received his habilitation from the Freie Universität Berlin in Hydrogeology (2008). His research interests are related to environmental dynamics at solid-liquid interfaces in the context of nuclear waste disposal, geothermalenergy and critical zone (biogeochemical cycles) research from the lab to the field scale (including underground research laboratory activities especially at the Grimsel Test Site (CH) and Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (SE)). 

Chun-Liang Zhang obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Mining Engineering at the Liaoning Technical University, China, in 1982 and 1984, respectively, and his PhD at the Technical University of Clausthal, Germany, in 1990. Since then, he has been working as scientist for deep geological disposal of radioactive waste within the German national and international research/development projects at several research institutions. His research interests are mainly related to 1) experimental study of long-term barrier performances of host rocks (clay, salt) and backfilling/sealing materials (bentonite, crushed claystone, crushed salt, etc.); 2) numerical modeling of coupled THM processes in the engineered barrier systems; and 3) in situ measurements of THM proce