US-based nuclear waste storage and disposal company Deep Isolation has launched a multi-year, full-scale, at-depth deep borehole demonstration programme in collaboration with the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center (DBDC), Halliburton, Amentum, NAC International, and Occlusion Nuclear Solutions, to conduct testing of its deep borehole technology for safely and permanently disposing of nuclear waste.
Deep Isolation’s waste disposal technology is being designed to leverage directional drilling to isolate used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in deep boreholes located underground in suitable rock formations. Deep Isolation believes that directional borehole disposal could provide robust and deep isolation for many types of radioactive waste, provide flexibility in repository siting, as well as allow for modular implementation adaptable to specific waste management programmes and inventories.
Deep Isolation has started a planned three-year initiative to complete a full-scale, at-depth demonstration of its Universal Canister System (UCS) and deep borehole solution. The system leverages standard drilling technology using off-the-shelf tools and equipment used in the oil and gas drilling industry. It envisages emplacing nuclear waste in corrosion-resistant canisters – 22-33 centimetres in diameter and 4.2 metres long – into drillholes in rock. The drillhole, lined with a steel casing, begins with a vertical access section which then gradually curves until it is nearly horizontal, with a slight upward tilt.
The UCS, which will be utilised in the Demonstration Program, has been extensively tested, and is engineered to contain various types of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste from legacy and advanced reactors for long-term storage, transportation, and disposal.
Deep Isolation, in collaboration with Halliburton and the DBDC, hosted a Groundbreaking Event to officially launch the Demonstration Program at the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center facility, located at the Halliburton Drilling Technology Facility near Cameron, Texas. It brought together project partners and key stakeholders from across the nuclear industry, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and officials from the State of Texas, Milam County, and City of Cameron.
The event marked the beginning of a critical demonstration project, aimed at building stakeholder and regulatory confidence in the deep borehole disposal technology. The Demonstration Program, which does not utilise radioactive material, will provide crucial data and operational experience to further the commercialisation strategy for deep borehole disposal technology.
“We are thrilled to have brought together this extensive collaboration of leading organisations in nuclear technology, drilling services, and waste management to address one of the nuclear industry’s most pressing challenges: developing a safe and permanent solution for nuclear waste disposal,” said Rod Baltzer, Deep Isolation’s President and CEO. “We believe our technology, once commercialised, has the potential to revolutionise the nuclear industry with a long-term solution for disposing of spent nuclear fuel.”
Duane Sherritt, Vice President of Low Carbon Solutions for Halliburton, noted: “We value our collaboration with Deep Isolation on this important initiative. Together with Deep Isolation and other collaborators, we will show how directional drilling plays a critical role in delivering subsurface storage locations.”
