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Some logistical considerations in designing a system of deep boreholes for disposal of high-level radioactive waste

Brady, Patrick V.; Arnold, Bill W.

Deep boreholes could be a relatively inexpensive, safe, and rapidly deployable strategy for disposing Americas nuclear waste. To study this approach, Sandia invested in a three year LDRD project entitled %E2%80%9CRadionuclide Transport from Deep Boreholes.%E2%80%9D In the first two years, the borehole reference design and backfill analysis were completed and the supporting modeling of borehole temperature and fluid transport profiles were done. In the third year, some of the logistics of implementing a deep borehole waste disposal system were considered. This report describes what was learned in the third year of the study and draws some conclusions about the potential bottlenecks of system implementation.