[en] National geological disposal programmes for high level and long lived waste are facing a double challenge: to develop technically sound and safe solutions for the long term management of the waste and to obtain a sufficiently broad societal and political base for the decisions leading to facility siting, construction, operation and closure. There is a general awareness that the challenges cannot be dealt with in an isolated manner. This rapporteur's review introduces and discusses some of the major issues and achievements in the national disposal programmes and in the international discussions, as identified from the papers in this session and other sources of information. The aim of the paper is to provide elements for further discussion in the panel discussion of Session IIIa. (author)