In the United States, scientists are studying several possible solutions for disposing of nuclear waste. Phil Stauffer and
"Deep salt formations that already existin the United States, are promising candidates for long-term burial, says Stauffer. - Highly active nuclear waste can create a lot of heat, in addition to the radioactivity that it contains. We need to develop a clear path for the disposal of this waste. ”
Salt deposits are deep underground. They are self-healing, have very low permeability and conduct heat well. All this is important for working with the natural heat of nuclear waste. Salt formations can be an excellent barrier to the long-term release of radionuclides into the human environment.
US and Germany already dispose of nuclear wastelow and medium levels in storage facilities located in salt fields. But this waste does not create so much heat. Therefore, more research is needed to determine the safety and effectiveness of salt deposits for highly active nuclear waste.
Salt is not only a physical barrier, but also a chemical one. Therefore, it is necessary to study how these salt deposits will respond to the presence of water, heat and other geological factors.
Recent thermal tests underground began withcreating a full-scale model of the "canister" for waste and its heating for almost a year. This is the first time such trials have been conducted in the United States since the late 1980s.
In parallel, a research team from the Department of Energy is conducting a campaign to study common nuclear waste storage facilities. This includes studying how water migrates to heat sources in salt.
Having drilled wells in salt deposits and completedHeating tests in these salt-surrounded holes gave the researchers information to make further decisions. Now they have to do an even more extensive study of both the holes themselves and the brine extracted after the tests. The researchers intend to conduct long-term computer simulations and real-time measurements of the chemical composition of the brine.
Project plans call for gradualscaling up experiments with heaters to ultimately examine the availability of brine for spent nuclear fuel containers in a configuration that represents a possible future high-activity waste storage facility.