From March 1994 to August 1996. ANDRA conducted a large reconnaissance work on three sites for possible underground research laboratories. These surveys highlighted for each site the presence of a geological formation, the properties of which meet the requirements of the French Fundamental Safety Rules. On the East site, the selected formation is a 130 m thick argillite layer. On the Gard site the layer is composed of close-packed siltites which are 208-400 m thick. On the Vienne site a hercynian granodiorite batholith was found under a 160 m thick jurassic overdurden. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.