Ocean disposal of radioactive waste

A 1:40 scale model of a sea bed repository has been tested in a laboratory flume 1.5 m wide x 0.8 m deep. The nature of the very thick turbulent boundary layer developed at the bed in deep ocean flows has been reviewed from all available literature. Flow of this kind has been reproduced in the laboratory flume so that it correctly envelops the model repository. The repository is placed in the flume on a bed of coal grains to study the scour effect of the boundary layer flow as it passes around the repository. Results are presented for scour around a repository with the centre-line aligned with the direction of flow. (author)