A SOLUTION to the global issue of nuclear waste disposal is a step closer following the release of Royal Commission findings in South Australia. The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission has released its initial findings in Adelaide, which show a nuclear waste disposal facility in the South Australian outback would be viable and highly profitable. The commission found that the facility would need to be supported by the construction of a dedicated rail freight line, airport and port.
The Lead 15th Feb 2016 read more »
Guardian 15th Feb 2016 read more »
The federal government plans to spend $80 million assessing whether its hottest nuclear waste can be stored in 3-mile-deep holes, a project that could provide an alternative strategy to a Nevada repository plan that was halted in 2010. The five-year borehole project was tentatively slated to start later this year on state-owned land in rural North Dakota, but it has already been met with opposition from state and local leaders who want more time to review whether the plan poses any public danger.
Star Tribune 14th Feb 2016 read more »
In “Conditions for criticality by uranium deposition in water-saturated geological formations“, Xudong Liu; Joonhong Ahn of the Dept of Nuclear Engineering, U. Cal. Berkeley; & Fumio Hirano of Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Geological Isolation Research and Development Directorate, Tokai-mura, (2014), raise the question of risk of a criticality event, an uncontrolled nuclear reaction, in a deep geologic repository for nuclear waste. Despite some seemingly faulty assumptions, which appear to understate risk, they rather bravely, considering their affiliations and funding, conclude that there could be a problem. At the end is the statement: “This study was carried out under a contract with METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) of Japanese Government in the fiscal year of 2012 as part of its R&D supporting program for developing geological disposal technology.”
Mining Awareness 13th Feb 2016 read more »