Deep Isolation completes three-year waste canister project

The project's name stands for Universal Performance Criteria and Canister for Advanced Reactor Waste Form Acceptance in Borehole and Mined Repositories Considering Design Safety. It included the development of waste form acceptance criteria, and integrated safety and performance assessments across multiple repository types. The project was carried out by Deep Isolation in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and NAC International, with grant funding from the US Department of Energy's ARPA-E initiative.

The first prototype canister was fabricated in conjunction with Pennsylvania-based R-V Industries, Inc. Testing of the Universal Canister System at the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center in Texas has provided evidence of mechanical integrity and operational viability in simulated real-world geologic conditions which Deep Isolation said has provided a rare level of physical validation for a nuclear waste disposal system.

The Universal Canister System is designed to accommodate a range of advanced reactor waste streams, including vitrified waste from reprocessing, TRISO spent fuel, and halide salts from molten salt reactors. It is compatible with modern dry storage and transport infrastructure, and meets performance and safety requirements across both borehole and mined repository options, which gives greater flexibility and reduced uncertainty in future waste disposition, the company says.

The results from Project UPWARDS provide a strong technical foundation which is expected to support future regulatory engagement, pilot deployment, and commercialisation efforts, the company said.

"By fabricating and testing a universal, triple-purpose canister that is engineered for storage, transportation, and disposal of nuclear waste in multiple repository types, we have delivered a flexible and technically robust solution that has undergone extensive testing and is intended to support future real-world deployment," said Jesse Sloane, Executive Vice President of Engineering at Deep Isolation.

The Universal Canister System has been developed by Deep Isolation in collaboration with NAC International Inc. NAC CEO Kent Cole said the company is "eager to advance the integration of this exciting innovation into our existing licensed systems for storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel and to partner with Deep Isolation in commercialising it around the world".