Welcome to the Mont Terri visitors centre.

22 organisations from nine different countries are currently researching Opalinus Clay, the preferred host rock in Switzerland for housing a deep geological repository. The visitors centre is jointly operated by swisstopo, the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate, and Nagra. Guided tours are free of charge. swisstopo is responsible for the research activities.

We would be pleased to inform you about the current status of our research and have put together the following programme for groups interested in a guided tour:

Programme for visitors to Mont Terri rock laboratory

The tour starts with a cup of coffee, followed by a visit to the exhibition, after which you will proceed to the lecture hall for an introduction to the topic of deep geological storage. This introduction is adapted to each group so that schoolchildren, students, excursion groups, and specialists receive appropriate information.

You will then be provided with a safety helmet and badge, and will be taken by minibus to the safety gallery in the motorway tunnel. After travelling for approximately 1 kilometre in the safety tunnel you will arrive at the rock laboratory. Here, more than 40 experiments are currently in progress, and you will pass by almost all of them during the tour. Because most of the experiments comprise sensors in boreholes, you will see a lot of devices and computers that collect data for the various experiments. The researchers are able to monitor the experiments directly from their own office via Internet access, so the laboratory appears to be almost deserted at times. Your guide will explain the various fascinating experiments involving topics such as geology, gas-flow paths, diffusion, bacteria, behaviour of a deep geological repository, CO₂ and seismology.

You will be able to watch live on screen which seismic instruments are currently measuring, marvel at the original impression of a Leioceras opalinum (a fossil) and in a 1-to-1 experiment discover how a deep geological repository is planned. After the tour is completed you will be returned to the visitors centre, where your visit will be concluded.

Each visit lasts approximately two-and-a-half hours (coffee and exhibition, 30 minutes; introductory lecture, 1 hour; guided tour, 1 hour). Be sure to bring sturdy footwear and a warm jacket (the temperature in the gallery is approx. 14 °C). Tours are available for groups of 10 or more people. People with reduced mobility are not allowed in the laboratory for safety reasons.

For further information, please contact us by e-mail: visit@mont-terri.ch
 

To register, please click here.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Mont Terri Project visitors centre.