DISPOSAL OPTIONS
What methods have been considered for the permanent and safe
disposal of nuclear waste, and how close is the solution?
The US and some European countries have looked into methods such
as: disposal in the polar ice cap, shooting the waste into outer space,
burying it under the seabed and in geological repositories. Another tech-
nique, transmutation, would chemically reduce radioactivity in waste.
Transmutation is not fully developed, and there is little research into this
method.

ICE DISPOSAL

4-

1P

GEOLOGICAL
REPOSITORY

- C 00EV DIMENT- --

DISPOSAL OPTIONS

Ice cap disposal raises problems of transportation and jurisdic-
tion. Space disposal is too risky and expensive. Some limited
research by an international team continues into seabed
disposal, but international controls on oceans and concerns
Geological disposal, which entombs the waste in deep rock
formations, is considered the safest and most efficient way to iso-
late radioactive materials for the 10,000 years required by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Reasons are that:
* The technology for repository construction is most
advanced.
* The US can take care of its own waste.
* And stable, unfractured bedrock might isolate radioac-
tive waste most effectively.

about the stability of the waste package now limit serious con-
sideration. Geological disposal is being investigated by several
nations.
For a geological repository to work, it must be constructed
in the proper bedrock. This means solid rock that is either ex-
posed at the surface, or underneath soil, clay or other layers of
rock. This bedrock must be strong enough to withstand both
blasting and drilling, as well as the heat and radiation from the
waste. It must also be relatively free of fractures and have low
enough permeability to prevent groundwater flow. The rock
body must be large enough for about three square miles of un-
derground tunnels.

How will a
repository work?
Radioactive elements
must be isolated from our en-
vironment. The repository
will do this with a series of
barriers, including a stable
waste form, stainless steel
canister, steel overpack and
the rock itself, which DOE
calls a multibarrier system.
The waste package must con-
tain most of the radioactivity
for at least 500 years and the
rock must shield the environ-
ment for the remaining 9,500
years.

High-Level Nuclear Waste

I

INTERNATIONAL
SOLUTIONS
Germany, France and
Belgium are researching
geological disposal of
reprocessed waste in salt,
clay, granite and shale.
Reprocessed waste is
cooler and less radioac-
tive than spent fuel rods.
Sweden and Canada will
not reprocess and are
conducting underground
research on disposal of
spent fuel rods in granite
bedrock.

with waste.
Ovrepack

BEDROCK

CEROCK