Strategies for solving the problem

Abstract

We are assuming that the method for taking care of HLW will be mined geologic disposal — burial of the waste in a cavity excavated in bedrock deep underground. This is the method currently being planned in all countries where HLW is accumulating. The decision to use this means of disposal however, was reached only after long consideration of other possible techniques. Some of the alternatives seem attractive, but they have all been abandoned — or at least deferred for possible later study — either because they were prohibitively expensive, because they entailed apparently greater risk, or because the present state of technical knowledge is not sufficient to evaluate fully their consequences. Geologic disposal has the advantages that it can probably be accomplished at a tolerable cost and that the necessary knowledge to predict its results is probably adequate. A few gaps in the information base remain, but seemingly they can be filled by research that is under way or planned.