W hen the U.S. finally gets serious about climate change, it will have to reduce emissions of CO 2 by more than a factor of two during this century in order to do its part in stabilizing atmospheric concentrations (1). CO 2 capture and disposal is among the most important supply-side technologies for managing the carbon problem. This technology could enable continued access to fossil energy whi...

The technology follows a sequence of steps: 1) place a confinement template proximal to the disposal structure; 2) drive a primary confinement €I-beam and sheet piling proximal to and below the underground structure and contaminant plume; 3) inject a primary low-cost inorganic polymer below the contaminated geologic media; 4) injectMood the contaminant plume; 5) inject cements and sequestering ...

Introduction Safe disposal of nuclear waste is a difficult problem. Long-term plans are to house nuclear waste permanently in underground facilities. In the near-term however, nuclear waste is stored in temporary storage facilities at various sites around the country. Federal and state regulations require periodic inspection of these storage facilities to insure storage vessel integrity and ver...

Reflections about the consequences of decisions involving the long term raise various theoretical and complex issues related to the validity of the quantitative assessment of what could be future risks, but also to the ethical position we are adopting towards future generations. In this perspective, decision-making in the field of radioactive waste management, with a view to maintaining present...

In recent years, geological disposal of radioactive waste has focused on placement of highand intermediate-level wastes in mined underground caverns at depths of 500–800 m. Notwithstanding the billions of dollars spent to date on this approach, the difficulty of finding suitable sites and demonstrating to the public and regulators that a robust safety case can be developed has frustrated attemp...

Danger waste disposal systems are typically comprised a series of barriers that act to protect the environment and human health. The presence of several barriers enhances confidence that the waste will be adequately contained. This article is focused on one of barriers, bentonite buffer. Bentonite buffer intervene between the waste canister and the host rock. One of main tasks of the bentonite ...

The 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA and the 2011 seismic events in Japan have brought into sharp relief the vulnerabilities involved in storing nuclear waste on the land’s surface. Nuclear engineers and waste managers are deciding that disposing nuclear waste deep underground is the preferred management option. However, deep disposal of nuclear waste is replete with enormous technical uncerta...

Alum treatment of runoff has been used as a stormwater retrofit option for the past 20 years. This technology has evolved from the initial demonstration research projects to a viable retrofit option for urban areas. A considerable amount of data has now been collected on the water quality and ecological impacts of alum treatment systems. Alum treatment of stormwater consistently provides remova...

The paper examines the interaction between host rock and a clay-based engineered barrier in the context of deep underground disposal of high-level radioactive waste. A large scale ‘‘in situ’’ heating test currently under way in the underground Grimsel Rock Laboratory (GRL; Switzerland) is adopted as a representative case for study. The main features of the behaviour of the rock/barrier system h...