In its resolution of January 1, 1985, the federal government of Germany deemed it necessary to develop, complementary to reprocessing, the direct disposal of spent fuel. The Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe was in charge of the implementation of demonstration tests aimed at proving the state of engineering readiness and planning of different repository concepts.

Several repository alternatives (borehole emplacement, drift emplacement) including different waste packages, cooling times, and technical equipment, etc., were compared. As a result, a reference and a backup concept were elaborated and subsequently examined in detail. Temperature calculations were carried out for a site-independent case and for a case using the working model of the Gorleben salt dome, which displays a horizontal cut of the geological structure of the salt dome.

The demonstration tests were intended for confirming technical feasibility under realistic conditions. They comprised simulation tests for shaft transport of heavy loads, handling tests of drift disposal, and active handling experiments with neutron sources.