US company demonstrates waste retrieval technique

23 January 2019


California-based private company Deep Isolation has demonstrated that prototype canisters for nuclear waste can be successfully placed and retrieved thousands of feet underground. The demonstration was attended by more than 40 observers from multiple countries, including representatives from the US Department of Energy (DOE), nuclear and oil & gas industry professionals, investors, environmentalists, and local officials.   

Deep Isolation’s disposal technology leverages standard drilling technology that has been perfected over the past two decades in the oil & gas industry. This approach was previously considered impossible by many nuclear experts, in part because of the challenge of retrieval. Deep Isolation had been testing the technology in private, and no radioactive material was used in the test, which did not take place at a  potential disposal site.
 
“The technology is adapted from the oilfield and is straightforward and time tested. The team was able to answer questions around public perception and environmental risk,” said Professor Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and the State Geologist of Texas. Tinker has been following Deep Isolation’s progress.

Deep Isolation says its aim is to "safely and securely dispose of nuclear waste faster than other options while building consensus through genuine stakeholder engagement."     

The test canister held no waste, but a steel rod simulated the weight of true waste. The canister was lowered some 2000ft deep in an existing drillhole using a wireline cable and then pushed using an underground “tractor” into a long horizontal storage section. The canister was released and the tractor and cable withdrawn. Several hours later, the tractor was placed back in the hole, where it latched and retrieved the canister, bringing it back to the surface.

Dr Richard Muller, chief technology officer, Deep Isolation, noted that the directional drilling technology has already been perfected by the oil and gas industry. "What we are doing is using this technology for an unexpected and extremely important new application."

Deep Isolation said its method has "significant advantages" over the widely considered alternative of putting the waste in mined tunnels. “A drilled repository allows you to go deeper while disturbing less rock.  It is both safer and less expensive than a mined repository,” Muller said.


Photo: Deep Isolation disposal concept



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