Around the world, there are pools of water filled with nuclear waste waiting for their final resting place.
Around the world, there are pools of water filled with nuclear waste waiting for their final resting place. This is waste that was created from decades of nuclear power generation, and the waste must be handled carefully.
In the United States, scientists are studying several solutions for disposing of these wastes. Phil Stauffer and researchers at Los Alamos National Labs have been working with the US Department of Energy and other national laboratories on one long-term, safe, disposal solution: salt.
“Deep salt formations that already exist in the United States are one candidate for long-term disposal,” says Stauffer. “This ‘high-level’ nuclear waste can create a lot of heat, in addition to the radioactivity that must be contained. We need to develop a clear path to dispose of this waste.”
Salt deposits exist underground. They are self-healing, have very low permeability and conduct heat well. All of these are important to releasing the natural heat of the nuclear waste. Salt formations can make an excellent barrier to long-term release of radionuclides into the human environment.
Read more at American Society of Agronomy
Image: Phil Stauffer testing the inflatable packer fit into the BATS testing borehole. This is a mock-up waste canister filled with cerabeads (fake nuclear waste, with properties like glass) and heater strips to mimic 1000W of heating. The project hopes to find solutions for nuclear waste storage in salt deposits deep in the earth. (Credit Doug Weaver)
