Many nations around the world use nuclear power, and the solutions these countries have pursued in isolating their nuclear waste underground have varied. In addition to obviously different geographical constraints, each country has at least some differences in potential repository rock types. Each type of rock, in turn, has certain advantages and disadvantages with respect to nuclear waste containment.
To facilitate the sharing of knowledge about the isolation qualities of the various rock types—as well as any other information related to nuclear waste isolation—Paul Witherspoon began a series of worldwide reviews (starting in 1991, which were updated and revised every 5 years) describing the progress made by various countries around the world in their nuclear waste isolation programs. Workshops have been held at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and have generally focused on emerging technologies that would aid in solving crosscutting nuclear-waste-isolation problems.
This series of reviews were published in conjunction with workshops and are available below, including our most recent 2016 Worldwide Review.
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- Witherspoon, P.A. (ed.). 1991. Geological Problems in Radioactive Waste Isolation: A World Wide Review. LBNL-29703. (pdf)
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- Witherspoon, P.A. (ed.). 1996. Geological Problems in Radioactive Waste Isolation: Second Worldwide Review. LBNL-38915. (pdf)
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- Witherspoon, P.A., and G.S. Bodvarsson (eds.). 2001. Geological Challenges in Radioactive Waste Isolation: Third Worldwide Review. LBNL-49767. (pdf)
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- Witherspoon, P.A., and G.S. Bodvarsson (eds.). 2006. Geological Challenges in Radioactive Waste Isolation: Fourth Worldwide Review. LBNL-59808. (pdf)
Faybishenko, B., J. Birkholzer, D. Sassani, P. Swift (eds.). 2016. International Approaches for Deep Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste: Geological Challenges in Radioactive Waste Isolation: Fifth Worldwide Review. LBNL-1006984. (website)