New study on borehole disposal for nuclear waste

Carried out by US firm Deep Isolation, specialists in deep borehole disposal, the study found that boreholes can still play a key role in dealing with the UK’s nuclear waste inventory, subject to further technical and business case development. Assuming it can be appropriately packaged, all of the UK’s heat-generating waste could potentially be secured in boreholes. According to Deep Isolation, this will account for 96 per cent of forecast activity levels in 2200.

Cost estimates for the use of deep borehole technology vary depending on local geologies and also between single-site and multi-site approaches. Deep Isolation examined six scenarios for disposing of all of the UK’s current and future forecast high-heat generating wastes, with estimates varying between £2.98bn and £4.45bn.

However, the report also found that boreholes cannot replace the UK’s need for a GDF, a deep-mined subterranean repository that the UK has been seeking to site and build for many years. Deep Isolation found that boreholes cannot safely store the full diversity of the UK’s waste inventory, and some form of GDF is still therefore necessary.