Jeremy L. Dillon
WC Monitor
9/18/2015
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board announced this week that it will more closely examine the technical and scientific issues associated with the Department of Energy’s planned use of deep boreholes to dispose of some radioactive wastes. The NWTRB will hold a workshop on Oct. 20 and 21 that will look at issues associated with the design and implementation of the strategy that has gained steam as the possible disposal pathway for some smaller packages of DOE-managed defense waste. According to a NWTRB release, the objective of the meeting is “to identify the technical and scientific issues associated with DOE’s research and development program to assess the viability of the deep borehole disposal concept and, more broadly, to identify issues associated with implementation of deep borehole disposal.”
Among the planned topics of discussion are: expected hydrogeological and geochemical conditions at the proposed disposal depth and their associated characterization methods; waste forms to be disposed of, durability of waste-disposal canister and over-pack materials, and effectiveness of borehole seals; C-challenges to deep drilling in crystalline rocks and to operations related to emplacing the waste canisters in boreholes; the regulatory framework for deep borehole disposal of solid radioactive wastes; and advantages and disadvantages of deep borehole disposal compared with other disposal concepts.
Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz has been a vocal advocate for the borehole disposal method, particularly for some of the smaller cesium capsules located at the Hanford cleanup site. The department in its fiscal 2016 budget request proposed creating a new used fuel disposition subprogram that would explore alternative disposal options for DOE-managed high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel. As part of the new program, DOE has requested $18 million in fiscal 2016 for research and development on deep borehole disposal. Earlier this summer, DOE issued a request for proposals for its Deep Borehole Field Test procurement. The NWTRB itself recommended that DOE take a closer look at deep borehole disposal in a report issued on the technical issues associated with creating a separate repository for defense waste.
The workshop will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1250 22nd St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20037. The workshop agenda will be available on the board’s website (www.nwtrb.gov) approximately one week before the meeting, the NWTRB said.
