New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

The United States hosts the firsts fully licensed, operating deep geologic repository in salt for intermediate-level radioactive and mixed waste from defense programs: the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Both other countries contributed to the scientific and technical foundation for isolating various categories of waste in the earth’s crust. Germany places chemotoxic wastes into salt and potash mines. Sweden and Finland dispose of low0level civilian radioactive waste in basement rocks. Belgium and France operate underground research laboratories to examine the viability of high-level radioactive waste disposal in argillaceous rocks. Germany had come closest to the disposal of high-level radioactive waste in salt by 1998, when an anti-nuclear coalition took office and progress ceased.

The WIPP compares very well with foreign analogues. Geological evidence indicates host formation stability for longer than 250 million years. 70 years of local potash mining experience enhance our confidence that the creeping, impermeable salt will encapsulate anything placed inside. Three decades of research, site characterization, and in situ experiments make the WIPP one of the most intensively investigated pieces of real estate in the world.

Independent scientists and engineers worldwide agree on the advantages of deep geologic isolation for waste the potential for long-term harm. With increasing globalization, no country can manage its waste in “splendid isolation.” Continued growth of information exchange and cooperation between deep geologic disposal efforts in New Mexico and abroad benefits safety and the environment everywhere.