David Savage has over thirty-five years experience in the geological disposal of radioactive wastes, focusing on geochemical aspects of site characterisation and engineered barrier design and performance, together with eight years working on geothermal energy projects (hot dry rock and high enthalpy systems), and more recently, over ten years experience of safety/risk assessment aspects of the geological storage of carbon dioxide.

All this experience has involved a high degree of technical input, from the interpretation of field and natural systems data, to design and interpretation of laboratory experiments, and modelling of complex non-linear systems for incorporation of key processes into safety/risk assessment models.  Over the last 25 years, much of this experience has been applied abroad, in Japan, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, France, and Canada.

He has written over 180 scientific papers and published reports and has edited a book on the geological disposal of radioactive waste.  In 1998, he was awarded the Aberconway Medal of the Geological Society for contributions to applied earth science in the UK.