(a) During the early or developmental stages of construction, a program for testing of engineered systems and components used in the design, such as, for example, borehole and shaft seals, backfill, and drip shields, as well as the thermal interaction effects of the waste packages, backfill, drip shields, rock, and unsaturated zone and saturated zone water, must be conducted.

(b) The testing must be initiated as early as practicable.

(c) If backfill is included in the repository design, a test must be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of backfill placement and compaction procedures against design requirements before permanent backfill placement is begun.

(d) Tests must be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of borehole, shaft, and ramp seals before full-scale operation proceeds to seal boreholes, shafts, and ramps.