BERKELEY — Deep Isolation, a leading innovator in nuclear waste storage and disposal solutions, will offer insights into its updated waste canister design and discuss the new Deep Borehole Demonstration Center at Waste Management Symposia 2023.

CEO Liz Muller will kick off the company’s WM2023 presence at the Women of Waste Management panel at 6:30 p.m. MST on February 28. Leaders will share their thoughts and ideas about the impact women make in the nuclear industry. 

“I am looking forward to participating in this panel with such a group of knowledgeable women. The nuclear industry has made significant progress toward gender inclusivity, but there is still more to do”, says Liz Muller, CEO at Deep Isolation.

Muller will also speak together with Ted Garrish at the Demo Zone, an event at 10:00 a.m. MST on 1 March where the two speakers will show pictures of the first tests conducted and discuss the launch of the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center.

On March 1 at 1:00 p.m., Dr. Ethan Bates, Director of Systems Engineering, will present a paper outlining the history of interest in deep borehole demonstrations, and the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center’s early technical objectives.

“The ultimate goal is for the Center to host progressively advanced deep borehole experiments and tests, ultimately leading up to an end-to-end (non-radioactive) demonstration of the deep borehole disposal technology,” Dr. Bates said.

Work at the Center kicked off in February 2023, when it worked with industry partners to conduct a first series of tests that demonstrated the compatibility of a newly designed waste canister for PWR spent nuclear fuel with standard lifting equipment for the oil and gas industry for use in deep borehole disposal operations.

Also March 1 at 1:30 p.m., Senior Engineer Matt Waples will discuss Deep Isolation’s progress designing canisters for radioactive waste transport, storage, and disposal in deep boreholes.

Deep Isolation has spent the past several years collaborating with its partner and shareholder, NAC International (NAC), on a canister designed for the deep geological disposal of pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies in boreholes. In the past year, significant strides have been made to enhance canister system safety, lifting and handling operations, manufacturability, and economic viability.  

“Our work with NAC refining and simplifying the canister design and manufacturing process has provided valuable insights that are expected to significantly reduce borehole repository costs while maintaining rigorous safety standards,” Waples said.

At last year’s Waste Management Symposium, Deep Isolation and NAC presented the preliminary design of the borehole disposal canister, demonstrating confidence in the structural, thermal, shielding, and criticality safety analyses for loaded canisters in storage, transportation, and disposal configurations. Since then, the UK government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced on February 8 2023 grant funding for Deep Isolation to partner with Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (NAMRC) to develop a UK supply chain for Deep Isolation’s disposal canister.  NAMRC will manufacture two Technology Readiness Level 7 disposal canisters, for laboratory testing in the UK and more extensive field testing at the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center in Texas.

Stop by Booth 530 at the Waste Management Symposia to learn more about Deep Isolation.

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About the 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

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