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Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) has successfully sealed the existing boreholes at Rosemanows Quarry, Cornwall, as part of an important research project into the safe and permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
In finding a suitable site for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF), drilling and sealing boreholes will be key. GDF developer, NWS, is undertaking a £5M+ project to investigate and demonstrate to regulators its approach to deep borehole sealing.
GDF will make a major contribution to the environment by safely and finally disposing of waste that would otherwise have to be stored and maintained above ground for thousands of years.
The UK’s search for a suitable site is a nationwide process based on community consent and involves several years of detailed investigation. Community partnerships, which are formed in Mid Copland, South Copland and Allerdale in Cumbria and Thedlethorpe in Lincolnshire, are engaged in dialogue with local people so that they have access to information about what hosting a GDF could mean.
During the exploration process GDF will be drilled to investigate the geology of the location if it is suitable to host deep boreholes. The NWS will then be required to seal these boreholes as part of a site restoration program to minimize the impact on the environment.
This initiative is part of a wide-ranging research and development (R&D) program that will support the construction of a safe and secure GDF deep underground.
Professor Simon Norris, Principal Research Manager and Project Technical Lead at Nuclear Waste Services, said:
“The purpose of this research project is to demonstrate the process we plan to use to seal deep boreholes during future investigations of potential sites for a geological disposal facility.
“We wanted to show that we have the necessary toolkit of approaches, procedures and tools to seal any borehole we can create in the GDF siting process, and this research was one step closer to achieving this goal.”
The latest phase of the project was carried out at the Borehole Test Facility at Rosemanowes Quarry in Cornwall. The site, formerly a working mine, now provides access to one of the most comprehensively mapped well systems in the world.
Two pre-existing granite boreholes, one 2km deep and the other 300m deep, were successfully sealed using an innovative technique known as the Downhole Placement System (DPS) tool.
Bentonite clay was used as a sealant due to its low permeability and swelling properties, with cement used for the base of the seal. Commonly found around the world and used in international waste management programmes, bentonite will also be packed around some GDF waste packages as part of an engineered barrier system that will isolate and contain waste disposed of in a UK geological disposal facility.
The DPS tool is being tested at different locations on different rock types and at different borehole depths. The first successful test was carried out in 2018 in a 200m borehole in Sweden, followed by a 300m borehole in soil in Harwell, Oxfordshire.
The UK’s search for a suitable site is a nationwide process based on community consent and involves detailed investigations over several years to ensure that the GDF can be built safely and securely.
Learn about geological disposal.
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