Bury nuclear waste down a very deep hole, say Sheffield scientists

Technologies that will enable nuclear waste to be sealed 5km below the Earth's surface could provide a safer, cheaper and more viable alternative for disposing of the UK's high level nuclear waste. Scientists at the University of Sheffield calculate that all of the UK's high level nuclear waste from spent fuel reprocessing could be disposed of in just six boreholes 5km deep, fitting within a site no larger than a football pitch. The concept - called deep borehole disposal - has been developed primarily in the UK but is likely to see its first field trials in the USA next year. If the trials are successful, the USA hopes to dispose of its 'hottest' and most radioactive waste - left over from plutonium production and currently stored at Hanford in Washington State - in a deep borehole. University of Sheffield researchers are presenting the latest findings relating to these trials and new concepts for sealing the waste into the boreholes at the American Nuclear Society (ANS) conference in Charleston this week (April 13-16 2015). Professor Fergus Gibb, of the University of Sheffield's Faculty of Engineering, explained: "Deep borehole disposal is particularly suitable for high level nuclear waste, such as spent fuel, where high levels of radioactivity and heat make other alternatives very difficult. Much of the drilling expertise and equipment to create the boreholes already exists in the oil and gas and geothermal industries.