Assessing the technical aspects of spent nuclear fuel storage in deep horizontal boreholes

预计核能发电将在向低碳能源的未来过渡中发挥重要作用。这将包括继续使用大型发电厂，类似于在包括加拿大在内的许多地方使用了几十年的大型发电厂。然而，随着小型模块化反应堆（smr）的出现，核能发电的新机遇正在出现。新不伦瑞克省、安大略省、萨斯喀彻温省和阿尔伯塔省最近签署了一份谅解备忘录，其中列出了在未来10年内实施一系列SMR设计的计划。拟议的研究将通过开发在深水平钻孔中储存乏核燃料的方案来支持这些计划。核能发电产生的乏燃料具有放射性，因此需要仔细管理。这种乏燃料以固态存在，在某些情况下将来可能有用（例如，作为反应堆燃料进行再循环和再利用）。因此，有必要将乏燃料放置在一个安全的环境中，在一段时间内可以从中取出，但从长期来看，这也将继续使乏燃料与周围环境隔离。在全球范围内，已经开展了广泛的研究，研究适合在页岩、岩盐或花岗岩等无孔岩石中长期储存和处置乏核燃料的深层地质储库。计划即将使用的储存库设计基于采矿和隧道技术。在加拿大使用的设计包括一个竖井下沉到所需的深度，从这个竖井中挖出一个通道网络和储藏室。目前正在考虑在安大略省设立这类储存库的两个可能地点。这项研究的主要目标是开发安全、长期储存乏核燃料的技术，这些技术是利用从地面钻出的水平钻孔在深层地质储存库中建造的。该研究将建立在以往传统储存库设计研究的基础上，以及过去25年来水平钻井和完井技术取得的巨大进步，寻求结合和适应这些技术的最佳方法，以开发相对低成本、灵活、可扩展和安全的储存库。该提案的具体目标是评估和设计加拿大大草原深处两个岩层的钻孔储存库；即厚的岩石层和致密的结晶岩层。这项研究计划将帮助我们实现安全、低排放的能源生产，为参与采矿和核电的人民和社区提供经济效益，并支持适合加拿大偏远社区的灵活发电方案（smr）。该研究还将培养出在各种能源开发和工程应用中使用的地下基础设施设计方面经验丰富的高素质人才。

Nuclear power generation is expected to play an important role in the transition to a low-carbon energy future. This will include the continued use of large-scale power generation plants similar to those used for several decades in various locations, including Canada. However, new opportunities for nuclear power generation are emerging with the advent of small modular reactors (SMRs). The provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta recently signed a memorandum of understanding which lays out plans to implement a number of SMR designs in the next 10 years. The proposed research will support these plans by developing options for storing spent nuclear fuel in deep horizontal boreholes. The spent fuel resulting from nuclear power generation is radioactive, hence it requires careful management. This spent fuel exists in a solid state, and in some cases may be useful in the future (e.g., for recycling and reuse as reactor fuel). As such, there is a need to place spent fuel in a secure environment from which it may be retrieved for some interval of time, but which will also continue to isolate the spent fuel from the surrounding environment over the long term. Extensive research has been conducted globally on deep geological repositories suitable for long-term storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel in non-porous rocks like shale, halite (rock salt) or granite. Repository designs planned for imminent use are based on mining and tunneling technologies. The design selected for use in Canada includes a vertical shaft sunk to the desired depth, from which a network of access tunnels and storage rooms are excavated laterally. Two possible sites in Ontario are being considered for this type of repository. The main goal of this research is to develop technologies for secure, long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel in deep geological repositories constructed using horizontal boreholes drilled from ground surface. The research would build on previous research in conventional repository design and the tremendous advancements achieved in horizontal drilling and completion technology in the past 25 years, seeking the best means of combining and adapting these technologies to develop a relatively low cost, flexible, scalable and secure means of storage. The specific objectives of this proposal are to assess and design borehole-based repositories in two rock formations deep beneath the Canadian prairies; i.e., a thick halite formation and a dense crystalline rock formation. This research program will help us achieve safe, low-emissions energy production, provide economic benefits for people and communities involved in mining and nuclear power, and support a flexible power generation option (SMRs) well-suited for remote Canadian communities. The research will also lead to uniquely trained, highly-qualified personnel experienced in the design of subsurface infrastructure for use in a variety of energy development and engineering applications.