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Time to consider deep boreholes?


New research affirms that there is growing interest worldwide in deep boreholes as an option for the disposal of nuclear waste. By Chris Parker


Chris Parker


Deep Isolation EMEA Ltd, Managing Director


DEEP BOREHOLES OFFER SCALABLE, MODULAR, and economical disposal for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste. It is particularly useful for countries with smaller waste inventories who do not want to bear the high cost of the safety case for a mined store. Deep Isolation conducted a study last year of stakeholder views across 18 countries in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific to determine perceptions about deep borehole repositories for nuclear waste disposal. Those surveyed agree that the next step for learning more about this solution is an end-to-end technology demonstration. The research, which will be presented in full at Waste


Management Symposia this month, is based on interviews and surveys with members of the regulatory, policy and waste management organisations. The majority of those surveyed said they believe boreholes potentially have a significant role to play. They cited benefits of choice and flexibility, a smaller physical footprint and cost and time savings compared to central mined repositories. Proposed changes to the EU’s green investment


I believe that (on a global scale) deep borehole disposal may have a potentially significant role to play in ensuring the safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel and other forms of high-level


waste Source:


Deep Isolation survey 2021


taxonomy require that nuclear waste and decommissioning funds must be in place and that there must be operational facilities for disposing of low and intermediate-level waste, with a plan in place for a high-level waste disposal facility to be operational by 2050. Potentially being able to deploy a borehole repository in less time than a mined repository could make this option more attractive. Deep boreholes also could potentially be co-located with a mined repository if needed.


34% Strongly agree 9% Neither agree or disagree 6% Strongly disagree 11% Tend to disagree 40% Tend to agree


The research process The target research group was senior-level stakeholders with specific responsibilities for geological disposal of higher activity radioactive waste disposition. They were selected from: national government policymakers; waste management


organisations; nuclear and environmental regulators;


international agencies that influence national policies; university researchers; and national


laboratories and other research institutions focused on radioactive waste


disposal. 28 | March 2022 | www.neimagazine.com


In the research, 37 people completed an online survey, of whom 10 also did in-depth interviews. Two additional subjects completed in-person interviews only. The study was conducted by Deep Isolation and one


external researcher, Professor Neil Chapman of the University of Sheffield. Chapman is an expert in the geological disposal of radioactive wastes, with four decades of experience in environmental, strategic and waste management in the international nuclear industry. “After years of seeing largely unstructured commentary on the potential role of deep borehole disposal in national waste management programmes, this work has at last focused light on what a wide range of policy and decision- makers really think,” Chapman said. “The general consensus that (deep borehole disposal)


could be incorporated into a suite of safe disposal solutions, considerably improving strategic and economic flexibility, ought to encourage countries to get together now and support an early multi-national demonstration project. This is becoming increasingly important as the world moves closer to a low-carbon nuclear power future,” he added.


Benefits of deep boreholes Survey participants were asked about the key potential opportunities and benefits that they believe deep boreholes can offer; and the policy, regulatory, technical, operational and societal challenges that remain to be addressed. When it comes to benefits, 74 per cent of respondents


tended to agree or strongly agree that deep boreholes have a potential role to play in ensuring the safe geological disposal of the higher activity radioactive waste (see Figure).


The benefits highlighted by those surveyed included:


increased choice and siting flexibility, including the reduced physical footprint compared to traditional mined repositories; the potential for cost reductions across national waste disposal programmes; potentially attractive features from the perspective of community consent; and potential for economies of scale when it comes to regulatory processes. Deep Isolation’s borehole designs have potential for


providing additional siting flexibility because they leverage directional drilling and geo-steering techniques to place disposal canisters in vertical, inclined, or horizontal orientations in stable rock formations. The great majority of those interviewed said boreholes would likely be suitable or highly suitable for small waste inventories of spent fuel, for example fuel from research reactors, and for vitrified high-level waste that could be disposed of at or near a nuclear power plant.


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