The radioactive waste management organisations of Slovenia and Croatia have contracted Deep Isolation to deliver a cost study on potential borehole disposal of used fuel and high-level radioactive wastes from the Krško nuclear power plant.

The Deep Borehole Demonstration Center has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Norsk Kjernekraft to collaborate on demonstration of deep borehole disposal in Norway. The centre – launched earlier this year – has already begun demonstration work at a site in Cameron, Texas.

In spite of its hydro and wind power (not to mention fossil fuel) resources, Norway is in the process of considering small nuclear reactors (SMR) for some applications. Far flung population and industrial centers may make SMRs useful to, for example, towns in the far north (above the arctic circle) that rely on fossil fuel for power and/or for hydrogen production to provide a possible alternative to fossil fuels for shipping and heavy industry. Norway always hedges its bets for future energy resources as fossil fuel demand decreases and before the real costs and capacities for floating offshore wind and grid upgrades are better known. And, not least, Norway wants to continue and to enhance its role as a major supplier of energy to Europe and the U.K.

The long-term toxicity of nuclear waste is the most pervasive argument against nuclear power but spent fuel can be effectively, permanently, and safely dealt with through a combination of deep-hole repositories, boreholes, and recycling.

US-based Deep Isolation EMEA Ltd has published a study, commissioned by the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which assessed the role directional borehole technology might play in supporting the UK Government’s strategic commitment to deep geological disposal of nuclear waste.

A new report commissioned by the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has found that borehole disposal cannot completely negate the need for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).

Collaborators are lined up, but the center is homeless at the moment.

The new Deep Borehole Demonstration Centre was officially launched at Waste Management Symposia 2023. The Centre, which is an independent, non-profit, science-driven organization – funded on a multinational, public-private-partnership basis, that aims to advance the maturity of the safety case for deep borehole disposal and the technical readiness levels of the disposal concept.

Small bore holes could provide an alternative to centralized waste repositories.

Successfully creating a deep geological disposal site for high-level waste has long been a key challenge for the nuclear industry. Now, a series of breakthroughs seems to show light at the end of the tunnel.