Deep geological disposal of radioactive waste A historical review of the UK experience

Abstract

All attempts to develop deep disposal facilities for radioactive waste in the UK have failed and currently there are no investigations of any possible sites. This review explains how the selection process of potentially suitable areas evolved from a geological parameter approach to a groundwater flow system approach. The geology and hydrogeology of the northern Pennines of England, the Harwell area of the Thames Valley, the Sellafield area of north west England, and the Dounreay area of northern Scotland provide illustrative examples of environments considered as potentially suitable for the deep disposal of radioactive waste. Published assessments of the long term safety of disposal facilities in many of these environments meet radiological safety requirements. These assessment results suggest that potentially suitable sites for deep disposal of radioactive wastes are not rare or unique, but could be identified in parts of many hydrogeological systems. However, this review concludes that attempts to find the best site by scientific rational methods are counterproductive. Instead, a pragmatic approach is advocated, based on demonstrating the acceptability of sites by a transparent review of the overall system performance, including the geological environment and the pattern of groundwater flow.