Regional Examples of Geological Settings for Nuclear Waste Disposal in Deep Boreholes

Abstract

This report develops and exercises broad-area site selection criteria for deep boreholes suitable for disposal of spent nuclear fuel and/or its separated constituents. Three candidates are examined: a regional site in the Baltic Fennoscandian shield for the fourteen nation European Repository Development Organization (ERDO) group of small European users; an area in the Arabian shield for newly announced reactor programs in several nations of the Middle East; and, following the same theme, a US site in Minnesota based on exploitation of the Canadian Shield. The criteria applied are restricted to technical, geological aspects and do not address the significant sociopolitical constraints faced by all repository programs. It is concluded that the subject sites all pass first-level technical criteria, and would thus be eligible for in-the-field follow-up, if so desired, by the cognizant organizations.