Feasibility of high level radioactive waste disposal in deep sea sediments

For the past ten years, an international program has been conducted to investigate the concept feasibility for disposing of spent nuclear fuel waste in deep ocean sediments. These studies by the Seabed Working Group were coordinated by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Penetrators have been considered as the primary method of waste emplacement. This required emphasis on studies of the nature of the plastic sediments which would form the primary barrier to the release of radionuclides into the biosphere. Site qualification guidelines, included criteria for tectonic and sedimentary stability over periods of at least 105 years. Using these guidelines two potential areas were identified: one in the Madeira Abyssal Plain; and one in the Southern Nares Abyssal Plain, both in the North Atlantic