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Deep horizontal drillhole disposal is the concept of disposing of high-level
radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapon ...
from a
nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...
in deep horizontal
boreholes A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petrol ...
instead of in more traditional deep geological repositories that are excavated like mines. The design concept is intended to improve upon the vertical borehole concept developed by
Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...
, by utilizing modern advancements in directional drilling technology as well as using isotopic methods to measure the affinity a host rock has for isolation.


American demonstration

A series of tests of the disposal technology were carried out privately in November 2018 and then publicly in January 2019. The test demonstrated emplacement of a test-canister in a horizontal drillhole, and retrieval of the same canister. There was no actual high-level waste used in this test.


Details

Horizontal drillhole disposal describes proposals to drill over one kilometer vertically, and two kilometers horizontally in the earth’s crust, for the purpose of disposing of high-level waste forms such as
spent nuclear fuel Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant). It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor and ...
,
Caesium-137 Caesium-137 (), cesium-137 (US), or radiocaesium, is a radioactive isotope of caesium that is formed as one of the more common fission products by the nuclear fission of uranium-235 and other fissionable isotopes in nuclear reactors and nucle ...
or
Strontium-90 Strontium-90 () is a radioactive isotope of strontium produced by nuclear fission, with a half-life of 28.8 years. It undergoes β− decay into yttrium-90, with a decay energy of 0.546 MeV. Strontium-90 has applications in medicine and ...
. This system consists of a drilllhole which is bored from a rig on the surface into a suitable isolated sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic host rock. Drilling is imposed vertically to a depth as much as 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) and then gradually changes direction by 90 degrees to the horizontal section where the waste is destined to be disposed. After emplacement, the drillhole is backfilled and sealed. This concept seeks to be applied to multiple waste streams from spent nuclear fuel to weapon's waste, therefore canister diameter and length vary upon waste form. Canisters are made of a nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloy, and are designed to be retrieved for a period of up to 50 years prior to permanent closure.


Location of appropriate sites


United States

Every state in the U.S. has deep rocks suitable for its own borehole repository. Suitable host rocks include isolated sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic host rocks.


Speed of construction

Scientists at the
University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...
in England say that deep boreholes for nuclear waste disposal can be built faster than a traditional deep geological repository that is excavated like an underground mine for waste disposal. The University of Sheffield engineers say that a borehole could be drilled, filled and sealed in no more than five years, in contrast to the decades required for a mined repository.


History


United States

Beginning in 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy funded an experimental borehole extending over deep, in
Rugby, North Dakota Rugby is a city in, and the county seat of, Pierce County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 2,509 at the 2020 census, making it the 19th largest city in North Dakota. Rugby was founded in 1886. Rugby is often billed as the geog ...
. The plans for this five-year project in Rugby did not involve nuclear waste, and instead would have tested other aspects of the borehole concept. However, following protests in North Dakota, a site was proposed in Spink County, South Dakota. After protests in South Dakota prevented the project from moving forward, the Department of Energy scrapped it. Due to public opposition to the first experimental borehole, in late 2016 the Department of Energy announced a second project which would have involved four sites; two in New Mexico, one in Texas and one in South Dakota. The early stages of the project required gaining public support before the Department of Energy would have selected a final site for an experimental borehole. On May 23, 2017, the Department of Energy announced that funding priorities had changed and that the deep borehole project was defunded. In 2018 and 2019, a private company did a series of tests in Cameron, Texas, that demonstrated the use of boreholes via a horizontal drillhole disposal system. This was done privately in November 2018, and then publicly in January 2019. The tests included emplacement of a mock-up canister, and its retrieval. There was no actual high-level waste used in this test.


See also

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Deep borehole disposal Deep borehole disposal (DBD) is the concept of disposing high-level radioactive waste from nuclear reactors in extremely deep boreholes instead of in more traditional deep geological repositories that are excavated like mines. Deep borehole dispos ...
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Ocean disposal of radioactive waste From 1946 through 1993, thirteen countries used ocean disposal or ocean dumping as a method to dispose of nuclear/radioactive waste with an approximation of 200,000 tons sourcing mainly from the medical, research and nuclear industry. The waste ma ...
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Ocean floor disposal Ocean floor disposal is a method of sequestering radioactive waste in ocean floor sediment where it is unlikely to be disturbed either geologically or by human activity. Several methods of depositing material in the ocean floor have been proposed ...
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Nuclear fuel cycle The nuclear fuel cycle, also called nuclear fuel chain, is the progression of nuclear fuel through a series of differing stages. It consists of steps in the ''front end'', which are the preparation of the fuel, steps in the ''service period'' in w ...
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Radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapon ...
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Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, as designated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act amendments of 1987, is a proposed deep geological repository storage facility within Yucca Mountain for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radio ...
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Waste Isolation Pilot Plant The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository (after Germany's Repository for radioactive waste Morsleben and the Schacht Asse II salt mine) licensed to store transuranic radioactive waste for 10,00 ...


References

{{reflist Radioactive waste disposal Nuclear reactors Boreholes