Plugging of Deep Boreholes for HLW Disposal

Abstract

This is a progress report covering work through July 2010 under a Sandia-MIT contract dealing with design and siting/licensing criteria for deep borehole disposal of spent nuclear fuel or its separated constituents. The principal focus is on conceptual design of a m ultilayer plug for our reference case borehole. It is similar to configurations recommended earlier by Swedish and Russian specialists. A secondary set of contributions update previous work in the areas such as multi-branch borehole configurations, use of cast iron canister inserts to resist crushing, and prospects for faster drilling.