Uranium Supply and Demand: “Estimates of current and future supply of and demand for uranium, the source of the isotope uranium-235 used to fuel the overwhelming majority of nuclear power plants.”
Deep Borehole Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste: “Deep borehole disposal is a type of geologic disposal in which spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and solid high level radioactive waste (HLW) are isolated from the environment by emplacement in boreholes at depths from two to five kilometers (Km) beneath the land surface. Key aspects of deep borehole disposal addressed in this fact sheet are safety, capacity, technical feasibility and technical challenges. Safety results from the geologic isolation of the radioactive materials and depends strongly on the characteristics of the geologic environment. Many locations in the United States may have suitable geologic strata at appropriate depths and lithology is a critical factor in ensuring safe and reliable geologic isolation. Geographically‐distributed deep borehole disposal can reduce transportation requirements and risk relative to centralized storage and disposal. Current research concepts suggest that each borehole could hold between 100 and 200 metric tons (MT) SNF, so 10 to 20 boreholes could contain the approximately 2,000 MT SNF discharged from U.S. nuclear power plants each year. Because of lower waste form density, the 7,000 MT HLW DOE needs to dispose would likely require more than 35 to 70 boreholes, and it may be impractical to emplace at depth some existing large‐diameter canisters of vitrified waste. Advances in deep borehole drilling have demonstrated the technical feasibility of drilling boreholes to depths of two Km or more. Technical challenges arise from characterization and engineering of boreholes, including the development and demonstration of robust and reliable borehole seals. A significant operational concern is the possibility of a waste package becoming lodged in the borehole above the emplacement zone.”
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