Geological Problems in Radioactive Waste Isolation Second Worldwide Review Part 2 Ch 10 - 17

The first world wide review of the geological problems in radioactive waste isolation was published by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1991. This review was a compilation of reports that had been submitted to a workshop held in conjunction with the 28th International Geological Congress that took place July 9-19,1989 in Washington, D.C. Reports from 15 countries were presented at the workshop and four countries provided reports after the workshop, so that material from 19 different countries was included in the first review.<br><br>It was apparent from the widespread interest in this first review that the problem of providing a permanent and reliable method of isolating radioactive waste from the biosphere is a topic of great concern among the more advanced, as well as the developing, nations of the world. This is especially the case in connection with high-level waste (HLW) after its removal from nuclear power plants. The general concensus is that an adequate isolation can be accomplished by selecting an appropriate geologic setting and carefully designing the underground system with its engineered barriers.<br><br>There is the additional problem of isolating low- and intermediate level waste (LILW). Significant quantities of LILW are generated from various sources, and while they are not as long lived and do not pose the same level of difficulty as HLW, they constitute another, but important, problem for the nuclear industry. <br><br>Much new technology is being developed to solve the problems of waste isolation, and there is a continuing need to publish the results of new developments for the benefit of the international nuclear community. Thus, it was decided that after a five-year interval, it would be desirable to gather material on the latest developments and publish another review on the geological problems of radioactive waste isolation. As shown in Table 1.1, this second review contains reports from 26 countries.