Rock salt formations as potential nuclear waste repository

Abstract

Field experiments in salt formations started as early as 1965 with Project Salt Vault in the Lyons Mine, Kansas, U.S.A., and with the purchase of the Asse salt mine by the German Federal Government. Underground tests concentrated on the heat dissipation around buried high-level radioactive wastes and the geomechanical consequences of their disposal. Near-field investigations cover the properties of water and gas release, radiolysis and corrosion. Further objectives of field experiments are the development and underground testing of a handling system for high-level wastes. The performance of an underground test disposal for such wastes is not only considered to be necessary for technical and scientific reasons but also for improving public acceptance of the concept of radioactive waste disposal.