Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

Natural System Impacts
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Effects on the ecosystem near a well injection disposal site would be similar to those
associated with any heavy engineering project. In considering these impacts, it must be re-
membered, however, that the disposal site would include reprocessing and disposal facilities.
Ecological impacts from these processes are categorized into preconstruction and post-
construction activities. Initial construction activities would involve clearing vegetation,
drilling, and geophysical surveying. Impacts of these initial activities would affect vege-
tation, soil, water, and other resources to varying degrees depending on the characteristics
of the specific site being developed. Impacts of this type of activity are evaluated for
specific sites.
Construction impacts would include those of a reprocessing facility, as described in
Chapter 4. Construction of facilities to prepare the wastes for injection, as described
above, would also be needed.
Postconstruction, or operational, nonradiological ecological impacts would be more
limited than those of preconstruction and construction activities. Many operational activities
would occur below the surface. Ecological impacts from these activities could occur if
some of the fluids injected into the well were to enter the ground-water system and were
transported to the biosphere or otherwise affected aquatic resources. Surface runoff or
material spilled on the surface could also cause localized ecological impacts.
Socioeconomic Impacts
Socioeconomic effects from constructing and operating a well injection repository would
be felt most intensely in the immediate vicinity of the facility. In general, impacts would
be representative of those of a major engineering facility. No quantitative data exist on
the construction or operational employment requirements of a well injection disposal system.
Impacts, however, should be similar to those described for the very deep hole concept (see
Section 6.1.1.6). In addition, socioeconomic impacts associated with the reprocessing facil-
ity would be felt at the disposal site. These impacts are discussed in Section 4.7. In ana-
lyzing these discussions, it must be remembered that colocation would lead to a greater con-
centration of impacts at the disposal site, but at the same time would reduce the number of
separate nuclear facilities constructed.
Aesthetic Impacts
Aesthetic impacts for the well injection disposal option would be similar to those of
other subsurface disposal methods except for the presence of the reprocessing facility at the
disposal site. Again, colocating facilities could increase the impacts at the chosen site,
but the fact that only one site is needed suggests an overall reduction in aesthetic impacts.
Aesthetic impacts could be accurately assessed only within the context of a specific
site. In a general context, however, aesthetic impacts related to drilling and other
geologic activities are covered in the aesthetic impact discussions for mined geologic