Current status of R and D activities and future plan and role of JAEA's two generic URLs - 15356
- Tono Geoscience Center,Sector of Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Management, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 1-64 Yamanouchi, Akiyo-cho, Mizunami-shi, Gifu, 509-6132 (Japan)
- Horonobe Underground Research Center, Sector of Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Management, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 432-2 Hokushin, Horonobe-cho, Teshio-gun, Hokkaido,098-3224 (Japan)
- Geological Disposal Research and Development Department, Sector of Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Management, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4-33 Muramatsu, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki, 319-1194 (Japan)
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has promoted R and D on geological disposal technology contribute to the implementation and safety regulation for high-level radioactive waste(HLW) disposal. JAEA launched two purpose-built generic URL projects to cover the diversity of geological environments in Japan, in accordance with 'Long-Term Program for Development and Utilization of Nuclear Energy' published in 1994 by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission. One is the Mizunami URL Project started in 1996. The Mizunami URL Project is a comprehensive geo-scientific research project investigating the deep underground environment within crystalline rock at Mizunami City in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. The other one is the Horonobe URL Project started in 2001. The Horonobe URL Project consists of two major research areas, geo-scientific studies and R and D on geological disposal technology in the sedimentary rock environment at Horonobe Town in Hokkaido Prefecture, northern Japan. Both of the URL projects have been planned to proceed in three overlapping phases, 'Phase I: Surface-based investigation', 'Phase II: Construction' and 'Phase III: Operation', with a total duration of about 20 years. Currently, the construction of research galleries in both of the Mizunami and the Horonobe URLs has been completed to 500 m and 350 m depths, respectively. R and D activities in Phase III are being conducted at both URLs. According to the latest five-year plan, announced in September 2014, JAEA will promote R and D activities in Phase III including study of the effects of long-term evolution of the geological environment on geological characteristics such as groundwater flow and chemistry for reducing the uncertainty inherent in the evaluation of the long-term stability of the geological environment. This has been a very critical issue for HLW geological disposal in Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Furthermore, JAEA will contribute to international cooperation especially with countries having a similar geological environment such as those in the Circum-Pacific area, development of human resources and communication amongst stakeholders through the generic URL projects. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22822858
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-19-WM-15356; TRN: US19V0849067773
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2015: Annual Waste Management Symposium, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 15-19 Mar 2015; Other Information: Country of input: France; 30 refs.; Available online at: http://archive.wmsym.org/2015/index.html
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
EARTHQUAKES
FLUID FLOW
GROUND WATER
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
JAEA
JAPAN
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SAFETY STANDARDS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
WATER CHEMISTRY