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The deep borehole disposal (DBD) concept for certain types of radioactive wastes has been discussed for many decades, but has enjoyed limited R&D interest compared to ‘conventional’ geological disposal in an excavated repository at a few hundreds of metres depth. This article explores the circumstances under which a national waste management programme might wish to consider DBD. Starting with an assumption that further R&D will answer technical issues of DBD feasibility, it examines the types of waste that might be routed to borehole disposal and the strategic drivers that might make DBD attractive. The article concludes by identifying the types of national programme that might wish to pursue DBD further and the pre-requisites for them to give it serious consideration.

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M m b r a y LEI3 IAF, UK ABSTRACT The last 10-15 years have produced a considerable amount of researchinto the geological disposal of radioactive wastes. This has had some very beneficial spin-offs for the geosciences. There are, however, a number of areas where it is difficult for earth scientists to provide quantitative information required for the types of long-term safety assessment being performed at present. With the likely increased stringency with which we may begin to treat other industrial wastes, much is to be learned from the radioactive waste experience. This article reviews some of the geological issues in constraining long-term predictions, discusses how geological data arc used, and questions exactly what it is that we are trying to achieve in the management of these wastes and in the regulations concerning their disposal.

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