Nuclear Engineering International, March 23, 2023
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.
The Engineer, March 22, 2023
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).
Press Release, Mar 20, 2023
London — Deep Isolation EMEA Ltd. has published a study, commissioned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), that provides an initial assessment of the role that the company’s directional borehole technology might play in supporting the UK Government’s strategic commitment to deep geological disposal of nuclear waste. The report can be found here.
Key findings include:
Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), the NDA business charged with developing and operating a Geologic Disposal Facility for the UK’s inventory of higher-activity radioactive waste has welcomed the study, which supports its mandate to review new and emerging technologies which could have the potential to improve the long-term management of the UK’s higher activity radioactive wastes.
The study concludes that deep borehole disposal cannot replace the UK’s need for the GDF but may nevertheless have a helpful role to play in the disposal of some of the UK’s nuclear waste inventory, subject to further technical and business case development and assessment. Deep Isolation’s recommendations to NDA include:
“We are excited to have delivered this project for the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority” said Elizabeth Muller, CEO of Deep Isolation. “NDA is a global leader, and I welcome their commitment to exploring the benefit of new and innovative options for nuclear waste disposal.”
Publication of this study follows announcement by the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on February 8th 2023 that it is providing grant support to Deep Isolation EMEA Ltd to develop in the UK a corrosion-resistant canister capable of safely encapsulating spent fuel assemblies for disposal within deep borehole repositories 1 to 3 kilometers underground. Funding for this project comes from the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, part of the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. The canister will be tested at the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center, a new nonprofit initiative being launched with multinational support from government and industry bodies.
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About Deep Isolation
Deep Isolation specializes in deep borehole disposal of nuclear waste. We work with government waste management organizations to design a directionally-drilled borehole disposal solution that meets strict safety standards alongside local community preferences. We tailor our patented solution to the specific waste form, available geology options and local regulatory requirements of each client, with implementation through our partnerships with industry leaders as well as flexible IP licensing options. Projects include advanced reactor and SMR waste disposal, stand-alone borehole disposal of small existing nuclear waste inventories, and working alongside mined repository programmes to increase safety and reduce costs by moving certain waste streams into boreholes.
About NDA and NWS
NDA is charged, on behalf of government, with the mission to clean-up the UK’s earliest nuclear sites safely, securely and cost effectively – overcoming the challenges of nuclear clean-up and decommissioning to leave the 17 nuclear sites ready for their next use. NWS is the part of the NDA group responsible for Developing a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) for the permanent disposal of higher activity radioactive wastes. The NWS – GDF – Annual Report 2020-2021 estimates the total whole life cost of the GDF program to be in the region of £20-£53 billion.
About the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center
The nonprofit Deep Borehole Demonstration Center was established on 1 December 2022 to provide interested entities and governments worldwide with an independent organization through which to commission projects that characterize and advance the technical readiness of deep borehole nuclear waste disposal technologies. The Board of Directors and Executive Director were announced on 12 January 2023, and full public launch was held on 27 February 2023 at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Arizona.
media@deepisolation.com
Deep Isolation, Inc.
2001 Addison St., Suite 300
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
www.deepisolation.com
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ARS Technica, March 17, 2023
Collaborators are lined up, but the center is homeless at the moment.
GeoDrilling International, March 6, 2023
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.
Event, March 22 - 24, 2023
Deep Isolation will exhibit at the ARPA-E Innovation Summit 2023 in Washington, DC on March 22 – 24, 2023.
ARS Technica, February 27, 2023
Small bore holes could provide an alternative to centralized waste repositories.
Press Release, Feb 27, 2023
Phoenix, AZ — The new Deep Borehole Demonstration Center officially launches today at Waste Management Symposia 2023. The Center is an independent, nonprofit, 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.
The Launch Executive Director of the Center is Ted Garrish, former Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy. Garrish said: “I am proud to have been asked by the international nuclear community to take a lead in responding to the clear global demand for a deep borehole demonstration facility. The International Energy Agency forecasts a need to double the world’s nuclear capacity between 2020 and 2050 if we are to achieve global net zero, yet the ‘unsolved problem’ of waste disposal continues to be a major barrier to public support for nuclear power. The steps we are announcing today represent a major advance for one of the safest and most cost-effective solutions to that problem: deep borehole disposal.”
Work at the Center kicked off in February 2023, when it worked with industry partners Deep Isolation, Amentum and NAC International to conduct a first series of tests in Cameron, Texas. The tests demonstrated the compatibility of a newly designed waste canister for Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) spent nuclear fuel with standard lifting equipment for the oil and gas industry for use in deep borehole disposal operations.
As Garrish explained, “The tests this month were an important step in showing how we can combine standard, mature technologies from both the nuclear and the oil and gas sectors – but this is just the start of a multi-year, multi-stakeholder program plan of projects that will cumulatively deliver an end-to-end (and entirely non-radioactive) demonstration of the on-site deep borehole disposal process. I am delighted to be publishing that plan today and look forward to working with our members and stakeholders to refine and implement it.”
The Board of Directors of the Center come from Deep Isolation, Southern Company, and The National Radiation Protection Institute in Czechia, reflecting the public-private-partnership and international nature of this nonprofit initiative. Liz Muller, CEO of Deep Isolation and Chair of the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center’s Board, said at the launch,
“At last year’s Waste Management Symposium, Deep Isolation presented new research showing that eight-out-of-ten leaders across the international radwaste sector want to see more international collaboration on borehole disposal, with an end-to-end demonstration being their number one priority. Since then, we have been working with the international community to develop a practical response to that demand, and I am delighted that today we are able to announce the results: the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center.”
Initial members of the Center include organizations representing waste disposal interests in nine countries, from both the public and private sectors. This includes the ERDO Association. Formed by the waste management organizations from seven European countries, ERDO published in 2022 the results of a project that found that deep borehole disposal is a technologically feasible and potentially cost-efficient solution for high-level or long-lived intermediate level waste from Croatia, Slovenia, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Norway, and recommended that the key next steps are a full-scale demonstration of site characterization, drilling, waste emplacement and borehole sealing, combined with development of a comprehensive safety case. The Deep Borehole Demonstration Center responds to that recommendation.
The work of the Center will be informed by an independent Advisory Committee, currently being established to ensure its work is transparent to the local community and subject to scientific peer review. The Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Professor Neil Chapman (Emeritus Professor of environmental geology, risk assessment and radioactive waste management at the University of Sheffield) said, “I look forward to working with the local community, my fellow scientists and international policymakers in the Advisory Committee to act as a ‘critical friend’ in support of the Deep Borehole Disposal Center. It is doing important work to explore and broaden our radioactive waste disposal options, and I welcome its commitment to transparency and scientific scrutiny.”
Stop by Booth 530 at the Waste Management Symposia to learn more about the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center.
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Learn more about the Board Members and the Center’s Launch Executive Director
Read the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center’s Strategic Plan
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About the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center
The nonprofit Deep Borehole Demonstration Center was established to provide interested entities and governments worldwide with an independent organization through which to commission projects that characterize and advance the technical readiness of deep borehole nuclear waste disposal technologies.
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Press Release, Feb 22, 2023
Berkeley — Deep Isolation US LLC (Deep Isolation) entered into a Mentor-Protégé Agreement with Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, LLC (SIMCO), the new Management and Operation contractor for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). SIMCO’s parent is Bechtel National, Inc.
The Parties agreed that establishing a mentor-protégé relationship will enhance the capabilities of Deep Isolation as it relates to performance assessment, licensing requirements, and permit compliance for nuclear waste disposal operations on behalf of the Department of Energy. The Parties believe that development in these areas will improve the Deep Isolation’s ability to win work disposing of nuclear waste using its deep borehole technology.
“This is an important milestone for Deep Isolation because it will allow us to add capacity on many of the elements that need to happen for a large disposal contract,” said Deep Isolation CEO and co-founder Liz Muller. “We are excited to work with SIMCO and the team from Bechtel and look forward to doing everything we can to assist with the effective and safe operations of the WIPP facility.”
Rick Kacich, Operations Manager for Bechtel National, Inc. is responsible for the mentor-protégé relationship, and stated, “We have been working with Deep Isolation since 2019, and are impressed with their approach to innovation, with the prospect of improving safety and reducing cost. We are delighted to assist them with building capacity through this mentor-protégé relationship.”
The mentor-protégé agreement could also lead to opportunities outside of the WIPP facility.
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About Deep Isolation
Deep Isolation specializes in deep borehole disposal of nuclear waste. We work with government waste management organizations to design a directionally-drilled borehole disposal solution that meets strict safety standards alongside local community preferences. We tailor our patented solution to the specific waste form, available geology options and local regulatory requirements of each client, with implementation through our partnerships with industry leaders as well as flexible IP licensing options. Projects include advanced reactor and SMR waste disposal, stand-alone borehole disposal of small existing nuclear waste inventories, and working alongside mined repository programs to increase safety and reduce costs by moving certain waste streams into boreholes.
Sophie McCallum:
media@deepisolation.com
Deep Isolation, Inc.
2001 Addison St., Suite 300
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
www.deepisolation.com
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Press Release, Feb 8, 2023
London — Deep Isolation EMEA Ltd. has won a grant from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (formerly BEIS) to engineer a corrosion-resistant canister capable of safely encapsulating spent fuel assemblies for disposal within deep borehole repositories 1 to 3 kilometers underground. Funding comes from the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, part of the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.
The project will support the UK’s net-zero targets for 2050 by tackling a fundamental challenge to the success of small modular reactors: the need for safe, secure, scalable and cost-effective spent nuclear fuel disposal solutions.
With a goal of meeting UK regulatory requirements for deep borehole disposal, this work will help advance the technological maturity level of Deep Isolation’s disposal canister designs. The project, a collaboration between the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, the University of Sheffield and NAC International Inc., will also include the manufacturing and testing of a prototype canister tailored to UK requirements, thus establishing a canister manufacturing supply chain.
“This canister provides an option for disposal in a deep borehole that brings greater flexibility and potential cost savings for disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste,” said Chris Parker, Global Head of Business Development and Managing Director of Deep Isolation EMEA. “By giving the UK choice and flexibility in disposal, it helps ensure new nuclear as a vital component of the UK’s 2050 net zero strategy.”
Parker explained that in the UK deep borehole technology cannot replace the need for a traditional mined geological disposal facility (GDF), but that it has the potential to reduce costs and save time for the UK’s GDF programme because it can accept selected high heat generating waste streams at much greater depth.
“An added benefit is that the UK’s advanced manufacturing capabilities provide us with an ideal supply chain with which to service the growing international demand for deep borehole disposal,” Parker said.
The project will give UK manufacturers an early mover advantage in the global borehole disposal market that could be valued at more than £100 billion in the coming decades. Each canister would dispose of spent fuel that has enabled the generation of 132 million kWh of low carbon electricity, representing a saving of nearly 27,000 tonnes of CO 2 per canister.
Alan Woods, Strategy Director at Rolls-Royce SMR, says: “I am delighted to be on the project board for this Deep Isolation-led project, because the innovation they are bringing to market – small, modular disposal of radioactive waste in deep boreholes – will be an important enabler of the international SMR market, and a great export opportunity for UK manufacturers.” Rolls- Royce SMR aims to complete its first unit in the UK in the early 2030s and build up to 10 by 2035.
Deep Isolation specializes in borehole disposal of nuclear waste, and has more than a dozen contracts across three continents. Projects include advanced reactor and SMR waste disposal, stand-alone borehole disposal of small existing nuclear waste inventories, and working alongside mined repository programmes to increase safety and reduce costs by moving certain waste streams into boreholes. Deep Isolation has been granted 19 patents and has more than 90 notices of invention.
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About the Deep Isolation
Deep Isolation is a leading global innovator in nuclear waste storage and disposal solutions. Driven by a passion for environmental stewardship and scientific ingenuity, the company’s patented solution of advanced nuclear technologies enables global delivery through its partnerships with industry leaders as well as flexible IP licensing options.
Deep Isolation, Inc.
2001 Addison St., Suite 300
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
www.deepisolation.com
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About the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is focused on the energy portfolio from the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). This department will provide dedicated leadership focused on delivering security of energy supply, ensuring properly functioning markets, greater energy efficiency and seizing the opportunities of net zero to lead the world in new green industries.
Leading economy-wide transformation by backing enterprise and long-term growth, generating cheaper, cleaner, homegrown energy and unleashing the UK as a science superpower through innovation.
Funded through the Government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which provides funding for low-carbon technologies and systems. Decreasing the costs of decarbonisation, the Portfolio will help enable the UK to end its contribution to climate change.