Ahead of the upcoming WTC in Montréal, 15-21 May 2026, the ATS congratulates Professor Arnold Dix on his appointment as the inaugural Chair of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association Special Interest Group on Geological Disposal Facilities (SIG on GDFs), a new international initiative established in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Representatives from waste management organisations across Finland, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, Canada, and China are expected to participate at the WTC — a gathering of the global underground disposal community under ITA’s roof for the first time. Arnold will also chair the Canada Showcase session — directly relevant given Canada’s landmark selection of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation–Ignace site as its deep geological repository location, announced in November 2024.
These meetings, alongside broader engagements through the Congress week, represent a founding moment for structured international collaboration between the underground engineering profession and the nuclear waste management community.
Professor Dix’s appointment recognises his decades-long contribution to underground engineering, nuclear governance and radioactive waste management.
His involvement in the sector began in the Northern Territory during postgraduate research work associated with the Ranger Uranium Mine, before later contributing evidence to Senate inquiries examining nuclear waste management issues in Australia.
Professor Dix subsequently led the nuclear waste practice at Phillips Fox (now DLA Piper) and lectured and published on nuclear waste regulation and underground engineering governance through the University of Cambridge.
In recent years, his work has included engagement with major international geological disposal programs, including visits to ANDRA facilities in France, the Beishan underground research program in China, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in the United States — currently the world’s only operational deep geological repository.
The ITA SIG on GDFs was formally established in September 2025 and will bring together underground engineering expertise from across ITA’s 82 member nations to support geological disposal programs globally.
The inaugural plenary session of the SIG will take place during the World Tunnel Congress 2026 in Montréal, where representatives from major international waste management organisations are expected to participate.
