v
Preface
Radioactive waste is mentioned in news items on a daily basis. CoRWM have recently provided their recommendations for high-level waste management in the UK and this is the basis of a New Scientist editorial bemoaning the slow rate of progress in this field. A major conference on high-level waste was recently held in Las Vegas, but the Yucca Mountain project in the immediate vicinity is deadlocked and awaiting decisions on the safety standards to be applied to this multi-billion dollar project. Whether it goes ahead or not, the USA has just opened up the entire proliferation debate by proposing a new initiative to provide centralised facilities for reprocessing, which leads to questions about how the resulting waste will be managed.
The issues being raised are complex, involving both multi-disciplinary technical arguments and politically sensitive topics. A lot of information is being presented, predominantly via the internet, but this is often garbled and contradictory. For those who wanted a succinct overview of what the science behind deep geological disposal is all about – where there is consensus and where open questions remain – there was nothing available which had been produced within the last decade.
To remedy this, we have produced this synthesis by drawing together input from some of the most prominent experts in the diverse topics involved. We hope that our approach of editing the chapters to homogenise terminology and level of treatment will provide something that can be used as a reference by anyone with an interest in the field, but also, due to the comprehensive references provided, act as a text book for the increasing numbers of students who study radioactive waste management as part of their technical training.
We would like to acknowledge the hard work and professionalism of the authors contributing to this book and their tolerance to our editorial approach. We wish to emphasise the expertise provided from this source and we accept blame for any blemishes which might have been introduced by the editing process. In any case, we feel that the resultant product will serve well as a timely bridge over a gap in the literature on this critically important area. Finally, thanks to our families for accepting our enforced absence over many evenings and weekends – we couldn’t have done it without you.
W. Russell Alexander and Linda E. McKinley
Auenstein, Switzerland and Villigen, Switzerland,
November 2006
xiii
Acronyms
AECL |
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited; Canadian reactor designer/ |
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constructor (CANDU types) and radwaste R&D organisation |
AkEnd |
Arbeitskreis Auswahlverfahren Endlagerstandorte; committee of |
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experts set up by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, |
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Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) to develop a pro- |
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cedure and criteria for the selection of repository sites for radio- |
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active waste |
Andra |
Agence nationale pour la gestion des de´chets radioactifs; French |
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national radioactive waste (all types) implementing organisation |
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(www.andra.fr) |
ARAO |
Agency for Radwaste Management, Slovenian radwaste (all types) |
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implementing organisation |
Arius |
Association for Regional and International Underground Storage |
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(www.arius-world.org) |
BAG |
Swiss Federal Office of Public Health |
BfS |
Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Germany |
BMU |
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and |
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Nuclear Safety, Germany |
BNFL |
British Nuclear Fuels plc. |
BRWM |
Board on Radioactive Waste Management, USA |
BWR |
Boiling water reactor |
CANDU |
(AECL designed) Canadian Deuterium-Uranium reactor |
CEEA |
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency |
CLAB |
SKB’s Central Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel, |
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located in Oskarshamn in southern Sweden |
CNE |
French National Assessment Committee on radioactive waste |
CNSC |
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission |
COGEMA |
French reprocessing company; now AREVA NC (www.areva.com) |
xiv |
Acronyms |
CoRWM |
UK Committee for Radioactive Waste Management; independent |
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committee appointed by the UK Government to review the options |
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for managing UK radioactive wastes for which there is (currently) |
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no agreed long-term solution. Submitted their final report to the UK |
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government on 31st July, 2006 |
COVRA |
Central Organization for Radioactive Waste, the Netherlands; respon- |
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sible for storage of all radioactive waste at a centralised facility |
DECOVALEX |
An international project for the modelling of coupled Thermo-Hydro- |
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Mechanical-Thermal processes (www.decovalex.com) |
DSIN |
Directorate for the Safety of Nuclear Installations, France |
DU |
Depleted uranium |
EA |
Environment Agency of England and Wales, UK; a regulator in |
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the UK |
EBS |
Engineered Barrier System (of a repository) |
EdF |
Electricite´ de France, major utility |
EDZ |
Excavation (tunnel) disturbed zone |
EEG |
Environmental Evaluation Group, USA; provides independent tech- |
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nical evaluation of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to ensure |
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the protection of public health and safety and the environment of |
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New Mexico |
EIA |
Environmental Impact Assessment |
EIS |
Environmental Impact Statement |
EKRA |
Expert Group on Disposal Concepts for Radioactive Waste, Switzerland |
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(now disbanded) |
ENEA |
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the |
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Environment |
EnPA |
Energy Policy Act, USA |
ENRESA |
Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos, S.A.. Spanish radio- |
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active waste (all types) implementation organisation (www.enresa.es) |
EPA |
Environmental Protection Agency, USA; responsible, among other |
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roles, for setting overall standards in the US radwaste programme |
EU |
European Union |
EW |
Exempted waste |
FEBEX |
Full-scale engineered barriers experiment in crystalline host rock; |
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experiment at the Grimsel Test Site in Switzerland |
FEPs |
Features, events and processes |
GAM |
Gas migration in shear zones; experiment at the Grimsel Test Site in |
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Switzerland |
GNW |
Cooperative for Radioactive Waste Disposal, Wellenberg, |
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Switzerland. Implementer for the Proposed L/ILW repository at |
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Wellenberg, now dissolved |
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Acronyms |
xv |
GTS |
Grimsel Test Site; underground rock laboratory in Switzerland |
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(www.grimsel.com) |
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HLW |
Vitrified high-level waste |
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HPF |
Hyperalkaline plume in fractured rock; experiment at the Grimsel |
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Test Site in Switzerland |
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HSE |
Health and Safety Executive, UK; a regulator in the UK |
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HSK |
Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate; Swiss regulator |
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ICRP |
International Commission on Radiological Protection |
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ILW |
(Long-lived) Intermediate-level waste (also known as TRU waste) |
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INER |
Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taiwan; national institute for |
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nuclear science studies |
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IRSN |
Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety, (formerly |
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IPSN); French regulator |
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ITC |
International Training Centre – School of Underground Waste |
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Storage and Disposal (www.itc-school.org) |
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IAEA |
International Atomic Energy Agency; the UN agency responsible for |
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international safety and safeguards in the nuclear area (www.iaea.org) |
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JAEA |
Japan Atomic Energy Agency; national institute for nuclear science |
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studies (www.jaea.go.jp) |
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JAERI |
Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (now merged with JNC to |
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form JAEA) |
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JCO |
Japan Nuclear Fuel Conversion Co, now disbanded |
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JNC |
Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (now merged with JAERI |
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to form JAEA) |
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JNFL |
Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited; Japanese implementer for L/ILW |
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KASAM |
Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste; independent com- |
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mittee attached to the Ministry of the Environment. Its mandate is |
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to study issues relating to nuclear waste and the decommissioning |
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of nuclear installations and to advise the government and certain |
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authorities on these issues |
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KNE |
Commission for Nuclear Waste Management, Switzerland |
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KTH |
Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden) |
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L/ILW |
Lowand intermediate-level waste |
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L/ILW-SL |
Lowand intermediate-level waste (short-lived) |
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L/ILW-LL |
Lowand intermediate-level waste (long-lived) |
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LWR |
Light water reactor |
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MAA |
Multi-Attribute Analysis |
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MADA |
Multi-Attribute Decision Analysis |
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Minatom |
Ministry for Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation |
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MLW |
Medium-level waste |
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xvi |
Acronyms |
MOX |
Mixed oxide fuel |
MUA |
Multi-Attribute Utility Analysis |
NA |
Natural (and archaeological) analogues |
Nagra |
National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste; |
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Swiss radioactive waste (all types) implementing organisation |
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(www.nagra.ch) |
NEA |
Nuclear Energy Agency (of the OECD) (www.nea.fr) |
NIMBY |
Not in my backyard |
Nirex |
Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Executive; UK L/ILW imple- |
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menting organisation (www.nirex.co.uk) |
NORM |
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials |
NPP |
Nuclear Power Plant |
NRC |
National Research Council of the USA; part of the National Aca- |
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demies (cf. USNRC) |
NUMO |
Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan; Japanese |
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HLW implementing organisation (http://www.numo.or.jp/english/ |
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index.html) |
NWMO |
Nuclear Waste Management Organisation; Canadian organisation |
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whose purpose is to develop an approach for the long-term care of |
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Canada’s spent fuel (www.nwma.ca) |
NWTRB |
Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, USA |
OCRWM |
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, USA |
OECD |
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
ONDRAF/NIRAS |
Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials; |
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Belgian implementing organisation (all waste types) |
OPC |
Ordinary Portland Cement |
OPG |
Ontario Power Generation; Major Canadian utility (previously called |
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Ontario Hydro) |
OSPAR |
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the |
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North-East Atlantic |
PA |
(repository) Performance assessment |
P&T |
Partitioning and Transmutation |
PHWR |
Pressurised, Heavy Water Reactor |
Posiva |
Finnish organisation responsible for research into the final disposal |
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of spent nuclear fuel and for the construction, operation and even- |
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tual decommissioning and dismantling of the final disposal facility |
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(www.posiva.fi) |
PR |
Public Relations |
PURAM |
Public Agency for Radioactive Waste Management; Hungarian organ- |
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isation responsible for all waste management, waste disposal and |
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decommissioning (http://www.rhk.hu/english/index-e.htm) |
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Acronyms |
xvii |
QA |
Quality assurance (synonymous with QM, quality management) |
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QM |
See QA |
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R&D |
Research and development |
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RD&D |
Research, development and demonstration |
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Radwaste |
Radioactive waste |
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RCF |
Rock Characterisation Facility; underground research and testing |
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facility at the proposed site for a repository (cf. URL) |
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Rosatom |
Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency |
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RSK |
Reactor Safety Commission, Germany |
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RWMAC |
Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee, UK |
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SA |
(repository) Safety assessment |
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SAPIERR |
Support Action: Pilot Initiative for European Regional Repositories. |
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An EU-funded project on regional repositories (see www.sapierr.net) |
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SARS |
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome |
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SEPA |
Scottish Environment Protection Agency, UK; a regulator in the UK |
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SF |
Spent (reactor) fuel, sometimes called spent nuclear fuel |
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SFR |
Sweden’s Final Repository for radioactive operational waste (short- |
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lived lowand intermediate-level waste) in southern Sweden |
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SGS |
Socie´te´ Ge´ne´rale de Surveillance; world’s leading inspection, veri- |
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fication, testing and certification company |
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SKB |
Swedish radioactive waste (all types) implementing organisation |
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(www.skb.se) |
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SKI |
Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate; regulatory organisation |
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SR |
Safety report |
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SSI |
Swedish Radiation Protection Authority; regulatory organisation |
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SSK |
Radiation Protection Commission, Germany |
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STUK |
Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority; Finnish regulator |
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SYNROC |
Synthetic Rock; waste form option originally proposed in the 1970s |
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and still under study in Australia, the USA and Russia |
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TRU |
Transuranic waste – also used (mainly in the US) as the term for ILW |
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¨ |
Technical Inspection Organisation, Germany |
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TUV |
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URL |
Underground Rock Laboratory; a generic underground research |
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and testing facility which is generally not at a proposed site for a |
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repository (cf. RCF) |
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USAEC |
United States Atomic Energy Commission |
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USDOE |
United States Department of Energy |
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USNRC |
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (cf. NRC) |
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VLLW |
Very Low Level Waste |
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WANO |
World Association of Nuclear Operators (see www.wano.org.uk) |
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xviii |
Acronyms |
WIPP |
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant; repository for transuranic waste located |
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in New Mexico, USA |
YMP |
Yucca Mountain Project; proposed repository site in Nevada (USA) |
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for spent fuel and high-level waste |
ZWILAG |
Swiss centralised interim storage facility for radioactive waste |
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(www.zwilag.ch) |