Toward a repository for high-level radioactive waste: Perspectives and approaches

Abstract

The future is unpredictable. Under these circumstances, how can we plan and construct a nuclear waste repository that is supposed to safely store the waste for up to a million years – an endeavor that may in itself take more than a hundred years? In this introduction to the special topic on the future of nuclear waste disposal, we take a first look at this question by searching the literature for answers and by giving a short overview of the current status of site selection in different countries, including possible challenges.