Designing a Process for Selecting a Site for a Deep-Mined, Geologic Repository for High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel

If policymakers decide to launch a new repository-siting effort, an understanding of previ¬ous repository-siting efforts, both in the United States and abroad, might help to inform decisions defining and implementing the siting process. For this reason and to apprise the public of a critical issue associated with the long-term management of HLW and SNF, the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has written this report.
Every country that has chosen a strategy for managing its HLW and SNF over the long term has opted for disposal in deep-mined, geologic repositories. Depending on the avail¬able rock types, a nation may be able to adopt one or more disposal concepts—designs for a repository system composed of the host-rock formation and engineered barriers—to iso¬late the HLW and SNF from the accessible environment.
This document presents a historical analysis of 24 instances in ten countries in which implementers, such as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), attempted to find a reposi¬tory site. Six national programs remain on track. The one in the United States is not among them. In Finland, France, and Sweden, the implementers are moving beyond the selection of a site by seeking or preparing to seek approval from their regulatory authorities to con¬struct a facility.