nuclear-news

How to build a nuclear tomb to last millennia

These enthusiastic articles about nuclear technology!

The writers never for a moment consider the thought of also just stopping making the foul stuff!

A promising site may turn out to be too close to vital aquifers that supply fresh water to local communities, or to the side of a valley, which in 10,000 years’ time may mean it’s at risk from an advancing glacier, and the hunt has to start again.

Then there is the nature and volume of the waste, and the amount of heat it generates. Intermediate waste produces less heat and so it can be stored safely, with containers stacked relatively close together in large vaults. High-level nuclear waste produces a great deal more heat, and must be stored in small amounts, far apart.

There is also the need for physical barriers to stop radiation from escaping from the GDF, which can range from the design of the containers to the type of rock that surrounds it. But critics fear these barriers may fail over time.

 Nuclear waste remains toxic for thousands of years. How do you build a
storage facility that will keep it safely buried for millennia? How do you
go about designing, building and operating structures that take decades to
plan and even longer to build, that operate over centuries and must survive
for 100,000 years, and that contain some of the most dangerous materials on
the planet?

Four hours’ drive east of Paris, the 2.4km (1.5 miles) of
tunnels are home to countless scientific experiments, construction
technique testing and technological innovations. France’s National
Radioactive Waste Agency (Andra) needs these to demonstrate to the
regulators if it is to be awarded a licence to build a geological disposal
facility (GDF) next to the tunnels.

Geological disposal facilities for
nuclear waste are, or will be, some of the largest underground structures
humanity has ever built. They are planned, in development, about to start
construction or about to open in the UK, France, Sweden, Finland and around
20 other countries.

 BBC 19th Oct 2024,
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241018-how-to-build-a-nuclear-tomb-to-last-millennia

October 21, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | wastes