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

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repositories (Section 5.5) and the very deep hole concept (Section 6.1.1.6). Aesthetic
impacts of reprocessing facilities are discussed in Section 4.7.
Resource Consumption
Suitable well injection sites would be sedimentary basins, which are frequently prime
areas for fossil fuels. However, after the wastes had been safely emplaced, geologic explor-
atory activities in the vicinity of the site would have to be restricted. It has been sug-
gested that potentially usable minerals from the zone of influence of the repository would be
inventoried before implementation would begin. On the other hand, the disposal zone itself
could be considered a resource for which alternative uses might be found, for example, stor-
age of freshwater or natural gas.
Other resources consumed in the well injection process would include energy for transpor-
tation, processing, and disposal. Land would be required for the reprocessing and disposal
facilities. For the shale-grout disposal method, clay, cement, and other materials would be
needed. No critical material, other than fuel, would be consumed by well injection disposal.
International and Domestic Legal and Institutional Considerations
Implementation of the well injection option would require two important policy decisions
that could be shaped by institutional forces. First, the process does not lend itself to
handling spent fuel from reactors. Processing would be needed to transform this material
into a form that could be readily injected into the well. The reprocessing approach most
often proposed contravenes the current U.S. position against reprocessing. This would have
to be resolved before well injection disposal could be implemented.
The second policy decision stems from the need to locate the disposal facility and the
fuel reprocessing plant at the same site. Although such a system would be effective in lim-
iting liquid waste transportation, it is likely that neither facility would be optimally
located. It would have to be decided whether the benefits of well injection disposal out-
weigh potential disadvantages of such colocation. Obviously, such a decision would have to
be made in light of domestic institutional considerations.
Another aspect of the well injection concept that could foster concern is the need to ob-
tain records of previous drilling activities. States typically maintain such records and
generally oversee drilling programs. If this disposal option were implemented, information
would be needed and procedures would have to be established to evaluate data from adjacent
well sites. The relationship between existing regulatory activities and the well injection
disposal process would have to be defined prior to implementation.
Aside from the issues outlined above, the legal and institutional considerations of this
option would be similar to those of the mined geologic repository discussed in Section 5.5.
6.1.6.5 Potential Impacts Over Long Term (Postemplacement)
An unavoidable long-term impact of well injection waste disposal is that alternative
storage or disposal applications for the site are eliminated. Examples of possible uses are