Exploring the offshore options [waste management]

A British study of the two main offshore options for the sub-seabed disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes has found that the geological requirements for boreholes are much more stringent than those for caverns. The study was of a sub-seabed repository excavated from an offshore structure. Two methods were considered: a network of caverns excavated at depth, accessed by shafts sunk from structures founded on the seabed; and a series of large diameter, deep shafts (boreholes) excavated from an artificial island. (author)