Deep Isolation said Monday it has secured a contract to support an industry feasibility study on the potential for same-site selection for both new advanced nuclear power reactors and borehole-based disposal of the spent fuel they will generate.
The Berkeley, Calif., company offers the nuclear waste disposal approach being studied – horizontal deep borehole.
For this job it is under contract to the nongovernmental Electric Power Research Institute. The study also involves the Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade association for the nuclear industry; Auburn University of Alabama; utility Southern Co.; and power industry engineering and environmental services consultancy Kessler and Associates.
This is Deep Isolation’s first contract with a non-government client, according to a press release Monday. To date, it has not disclosed any details about its contracting with governments.
“The disposal of spent nuclear fuel should be considered during the development of advanced and micro reactors to ensure the ultimate disposition of the fuel is known and not left unresolved,” Deep Isolation CEO Elizabeth Muller said in the release. “This contract allows us to align the siting requirements of an advanced reactor with the siting requirements of deep horizontal disposal of the waste that will be generated.”
The study will address issues including the physical characteristics of sites, disposal work, safety performance analysis, and regulatory and licensing matters.
Additional specifics of the contract and study were not immediately available.
The United States has tried for decades to develop a permanent means of disposal of used fuel from its existing nuclear fleet, a stockpile of radioactive waste now exceeding 80,000 metric tons. Next-generation reactor technologies offer the potential to reduce output of spent fuel or to reuse that material, but also to add to the still-growing domestic holding.
