Borehole Disposal of Radioactive Sources

Results achieved at the end of the project (December 2023) include: (1) designed constructed and operationalized a mobile tool kit facility for the conditioning of disused sealed radioactive sources preparation of waste packages and their disposal into the borehole facility; (2) modified the International Atomic Energy Agency's mobile hot cell to integrate it with the borehole disposal concept. This allowed safe and secure packaging and disposal of all types of disused sealed radioactive sources; (3) finalized a consolidated borehole design made available to International Atomic Energy Agency Member States to assist them develop country-specific borehole designs; (4) developed a framework document to guide implementation entities as to what they should include in a safety case and a security plan for borehole disposal systems; (5) reviewed and finalized the designs of the capsules and disposal containers; (6) produced 3 International Atomic Energy Agency technical documents on regulating the disposal of disused sealed radioactive sources in borehole systems; (7) developed software to evaluate the containment provided by the capsule disposal container and containment barrier after a borehole is sealed; (8) developed training material to train the regulators on the key elements to consider while evaluating a safety case and security plan for borehole disposal systems; (9) in Malaysia after successfully completing the licensing process the borehole drilling began in March 2023 but work had to be halted in September 2023 after the surrounding rock unexpectedly broke away when the liner was being installed. Malaysia aims to use the partially complete borehole for training while searching for another viable location to drill another one; (10) in Ghana after extensive delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and capacity issues the nuclear regulator completed an evaluation of the safety case required for licensing a borehole disposal system but it has yet to compl