Emphasized items in research and development of formation disposal of high level radioactive wastes and method of advance

As for the formation disposal of the high level radioactive wastes generated by the reprocessing of spent fuel, at present the research and development aiming at establishing formation disposal technology and the investigation for evaluating the aptitude of geological environment are carried out. As for the research and development of formation disposal, the way those research and development should be and the results on the selection of effective formation were shown. For promoting the research and development of formation disposal, it is important to obtain the understanding of the nation, and the necessary investigation was carried out. In this report, the fundamental way of thinking on securing the safety in formation disposal is shown, and based on the results of research and development obtained so far, the prospect of the technical possibility of formation disposal was studied, and the items of the research and development which should be advanced by placing emphasis on them and the method of advancing them are summarized. (K.I.)