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.  

###

Learn more about the Board Members and the Center’s Launch Executive Director

Read the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center’s Strategic Plan

### 

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.

Press Contact

info@deepboreholedemo.org

###

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.

###

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.

Press Contact

Sophie McCallum:
media@deepisolation.com
Deep Isolation, Inc.
2001 Addison St., Suite 300
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
www.deepisolation.com

###

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.

###

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.

Press Contact

media@deepisolation.com

Deep Isolation, Inc.
2001 Addison St., Suite 300
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
www.deepisolation.com

###

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.

Berkeley, Calif. — A new Deep Borehole Demonstration Center will be publicly launched Feb. 27 at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Ariz. It was founded as a new nonprofit organization and is open to participation from governments, utilities, nuclear operators and research organizations interested in studying nuclear waste disposal technologies for worldwide deployment.

The nonprofit’s Board of Directors includes Deep Isolation and inaugural members from the National Radiation Protection Institute in the Czech Republic, U.S.-based utility Southern Company and Deep Isolation’s CEO. The Board has appointed Ted Garrish, former Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy, to serve as Launch Executive Director.

“This is the beginning of being able to offer countries a new option: a deep borehole repository,” Garrish said. “This gives countries an alternative, and in some cases, boreholes could also work alongside mined repositories for particular waste streams, such as from advanced reactors. The Deep Borehole Demonstration Center will allow multinational and cross-organizational collaborations to begin the work of characterizing the entire system. This is how we get to the next stage.”

The impetus for the Center was an international survey of waste management organization stakeholders published by Deep Isolation and the University of Sheffield in March 2022. Four-out-of-five stakeholders surveyed for the report said they want more international collaboration to advance deep borehole disposal and agreed overwhelmingly that the key next step is a demonstration of the end-to-end technology.

“Our customers and prospective customers have been asking for something exactly like this — a facility designed to advance the development of the deep borehole repository concept so they can feel confident that, as they commission new nuclear power plants to meet net zero goals, they will be able to simultaneously plan for a flexible, affordable waste disposal solution,” said Deep Isolation CEO Liz Muller, chair of the Center’s board.

Using a membership-funded model, the Center will draw on international participation to demonstrate the viability of deep borehole technology and to develop improved guidance and international consensus around how regulators can best assess the safety case for deep borehole disposal.

The Center’s mission is to advance the maturity of the safety case for deep borehole disposal and the technical readiness levels of the disposal concept, including characterization, construction, canister handling, emplacement and retrieval.

The Center’s board also includes Jitka Mikšová, Head of the RWM Division at the National Radiation Protection Institute (SÚRO), Czech Republic, and Dr. Richard Esposito, R&D Program Manager for Geosciences & Carbon Management at Southern Company. The Board is also establishing an independent science-driven Advisory Committee to assist in ensuring transparency and scrutiny of the Center’s work.

Dr. Esposito of Southern Company said: “Deep borehole disposal brings an important new option to the table for geologic disposal of nuclear waste. We look forward to working with public and private sector partners worldwide to both evaluate and demonstrate the viability of the technology through the new Deep Borehole Demonstration Center.”

Mikšová of SÚRO said deep borehole disposal is especially of interest to countries with small waste inventories where a conventional mined geological repository is not economically efficient.

“The Center foundation is creating the right platform for the necessary demonstration of the feasibility of this disposal option, and one through which international teams can contribute to improving the borehole disposal technology with respect to the environment and further adapting it to country-specific conditions and building public confidence,” she said. “On behalf of the Czech partners I am representing, we are looking forward to engaging in the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center work.”

Further details of the government and industry organizations that are backing this work will be announced at Waste Management 2023. In the meantime, interested parties who would like to become members are welcome to contact the Center’s Launch Executive Director.

Garrish said, “The Center is ultimately about answering the age-old question, ‘What about the waste?’ which is inevitably posed by governments considering the merits of nuclear power. This is the question that we’ve got to answer. And that is what the Center was created to do.”

###

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.

Press Contact

Kari Hulac
info@deepboreholedemo.org

LONDON – Deep Isolation announced today it is part of a grant project awarded to EPRI, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Southern Company Research and Development. The $2.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is for a joint nuclear research and development project focused on nuclear fuel management options to help power advanced nuclear energy systems, which could play an important role in meeting national decarbonization goals.

EPRI will lead the team receiving funding from DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Specifically, the two-year project aims to expand the available options of nuclear fuel management by creating a tool for optimizing the integration of processes for recovery of uranium from used nuclear fuel and performing an at-scale scoping study for market readiness of some of these techniques.

Each of the participating organizations brings their unique specific technical perspective to the project. EPRI is providing project management and expertise in advanced reactor development, ORNL is providing technical expertise in nuclear fuel cycles and system modeling for developing the tool, Southern Company is providing real-world data and their experience in shepherding new technology from the laboratory to full-scale commercial deployment, and Deep Isolation is providing technical expertise in the disposal of used fuel in deep borehole repositories approximately a mile underground.

“Recovering uranium from used nuclear fuel so that it can be used in the next generation of reactors helps to ensure the success of carbon-free generation,” said Neil Wilmshurst, EPRI senior vice president of Energy System Resources and Chief Nuclear Officer. “That next generation of carbon-free generation could help the nation achieve its decarbonization goals. EPRI is proud to be conducting research with this team in this area.”

The joint endeavor aligns closely with ORNL’s capabilities, said Andy Worrall, section head of Integrated Fuel Cycle research at the laboratory. “This project is at the heart of two of our focus areas at ORNL — advancing the next generation of nuclear technology to meet the nation’s energy needs and climate goals while reducing the demand on waste generation storage and ultimate disposal.”

“We are launching our fourth contract in the EU, with an advanced reactor developer in Estonia, so it’s affirming to see that the U.S. government is devoting resources to advanced reactor R&D that integrates borehole repositories as a spent fuel solution,” said Chris Parker, Global Head of Business Development and Managing Director, Deep Isolation EMEA Ltd.

The EPRI project brings Deep Isolation’s DOE grant projects this year to four. The previously awarded projects include: a $3.6 million grant to develop a universal disposal canister for advanced reactor applications; a $4 million grant with advanced reactor developer Oklo, Inc. and other partners to develop the first nuclear fuel recycling and disposal facility in the United States; and a $4.9 million award to work with Argonne National Laboratory to develop an integrated used fuel disposal plan using cost-effective deep borehole repository technology for oxide reduction applications. After just four years as a public-facing company, Deep Isolation’s milestones include: contracts with a dozen countries across three continents, 18 patents and 90 notices of invention.

###

About 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.

About EPRI

Founded in 1972, EPRI is the world’s preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, with offices around the world. EPRI’s trusted experts collaborate with more than 450 companies in 45 countries, driving innovation to ensure the public has clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and equitable access to electricity across the globe. Together, we are shaping the future of energy.

About ORNL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory delivers scientific discoveries and technical breakthroughs to accelerate the development and deployment of solutions in clean energy and global security, and in doing so create economic opportunity for the nation. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for DOE’s Office of Science.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Nov. 17, 2022) – – EPRI, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Southern Company Research and Development, and Deep Isolation announced today they have been awarded $2.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a joint nuclear research and development project. The project is focused on nuclear fuel management options to help power advanced nuclear energy systems, which could play an important role in meeting national decarbonization goals.

EPRI will lead the team receiving funding from DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Specifically, the two-year project aims to expand the available options of nuclear fuel management by creating a tool for optimizing the integration of processes for recovery of uranium from used nuclear fuel and performing an at-scale scoping study for market readiness of some of these techniques.

Each of the participating organizations brings their unique specific technical perspective to the project. EPRI is providing project management and expertise in advanced reactor development, ORNL is providing technical expertise in nuclear fuel cycles and system modeling for developing the tool, Southern Company is providing real-world data and their experience in shepherding new technology from the laboratory to full-scale commercial deployment, and Deep Isolation is providing technical expertise in the disposal of used fuel in deep borehole repositories approximately a mile underground.

“Recovering uranium from used nuclear fuel so that it can be used in the next generation of reactors helps to ensure the success of carbon-free generation,” said Neil Wilmshurst, EPRI senior vice president  of Energy System Resources and Chief Nuclear Officer. “That next generation of carbon-free generation could help the nation achieve its decarbonization goals. EPRI is proud to be conducting research with this team in this area.”

The joint endeavor aligns closely with ORNL’s capabilities, said Andy Worrall, section head of Integrated Fuel Cycle research at the laboratory. “This project is at the heart of two of our focus areas at ORNL — advancing the next generation of nuclear technology to meet the nation’s energy needs and climate goals while reducing the demand on waste generation storage and ultimate disposal.”

“We appreciate this opportunity to demonstrate how our technology can contribute to a variety of innovative efforts to increase the efficiency and sustainability of nuclear power in the marketplace,” said Deep Isolation Chief Operating Officer Rod Baltzer.

Contact
Laura Thompson
Communications Manager
704-595-2229
lathompson@epri.com

###

About EPRI
Founded in 1972, EPRI is the world’s preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, with offices around the world. EPRI’s trusted experts collaborate with more than 450 companies in 45 countries, driving innovation to ensure the public has clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and equitable access to electricity across the globe. Together, we are shaping the future of energy.

About ORNL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory delivers scientific discoveries and technical breakthroughs to accelerate the development and deployment of solutions in clean energy and global security, and in doing so create economic opportunity for the nation. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for DOE’s Office of Science.

About 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.