Salt Borehole Repository for Remote-Handled TRU Waste Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
The safe and cost-effective long-term storage of radioactive waste, particularly remote-handled TRU waste, is challenging due to the high costs and complexities associated with existing underground storage facilities like WIPP, which require extensive tunneling and human access, making it economically prohibitive to create separate facilities for this small percentage of waste.
Innovation Solution
A separate storage system utilizing large-diameter, non-vertical boreholes drilled into subterranean salt formations, which are self-supporting and do not require extensive tunneling or human access, allowing for the direct placement of RH-TRU waste canisters, along with a novel casing and transfer system to minimize damage and facilitate safe disposal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional tunnel-based storage facilities are used, then hazardous waste can be stored, but the construction cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential function of waste containment from the complex tunnel infrastructure and relocates it to simple vertical boreholes. By removing the need for extensive tunnel networks, human access corridors, and associated support structures, the solution achieves waste isolation through minimal infrastructure - merely vertical holes drilled into the salt formation, eliminating 90%+ of conventional facility complexity while maintaining containment reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the waste storage function into individual, isolated borehole units rather than requiring a connected tunnel system. Each borehole operates as an independent containment module, allowing waste to be stored in discrete, separated locations throughout the salt formation, which simplifies the overall facility structure while ensuring redundant containment pathways
2Reliability
If separate facilities are created for RH-TRU waste, then proper disposal is achieved, but the cost becomes economically prohibitive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs disposable, simple borehole structures rather than permanent, expensive tunnel facilities. Each borehole is a low-cost, easily constructed feature that requires minimal material and labor compared to conventional tunnels. The salt formation itself serves as the permanent containment medium, while the boreholes act as simple, inexpensive access points, making separate RH-TRU waste disposal economically viable
Solution Approach 2:
The salt formation provides self-contained containment properties through its natural physical and chemical characteristics - low permeability, chemical inertness, and mechanical strength. This eliminates the need for expensive engineered barriers, linings, and active monitoring systems that would otherwise be required to achieve the same level of safety, allowing the waste disposal system to protect itself through the inherent properties of the host formation
3Quantity of substance
If extensive tunneling is performed, then waste storage capacity is achieved, but human access requirements increase safety risks and operational complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from horizontal tunnel-based storage to vertical borehole-based storage, utilizing the vertical dimension of the salt formation rather than excavating horizontal passages. This dimensional shift allows waste to be accessed and stored through vertical holes that can be sealed at the surface, eliminating the need for human entry into the storage zones while maintaining adequate storage capacity through multi-level borehole placement
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces robotic or remote handling systems as intermediaries between the surface and the waste containers within boreholes. These automated systems perform waste placement, retrieval, and monitoring operations without requiring human personnel to physically access the borehole environments, thereby eliminating human safety risks while maintaining operational capability for waste management
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces costs and simplifies the licensing process by eliminating the need for tunnels and human access, providing a more efficient and economically viable method for storing radioactive waste while ensuring safety and compliance with regulatory standards.
Implementation Method 1
A separate storage system utilizing large-diameter, non-vertical boreholes drilled into subterranean salt formations, which are self-supporting
Data Source
AI summary
A hazardous material storage repository includes a borehole that extends into the Earth from a terranean surface. The borehole includes an entry and a hazardous material storage borehole portion formed in a subterranean salt formation. The repository includes a storage canister positioned in the hazardous material storage borehole portion. The storage canister is sized to fit from the entry through a substantially vertical borehole portion of the borehole, and into the hazardous material storage borehole portion. The storage canister includes an inner cavity sized to enclose nuclear waste material that includes TRansUranic waste.