CONSTRUCTION METHODS FOR UNDERGROUND RW DISPOSAL FACILITIES: ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Deep geological repositories for radioactive waste (DGR) and underground research laboratories (URL) preceding them are being developed and constructed in most countries with developed nuclear power sector. International practices show that DGR and URL designs involve various types of excavations widely used to provide access to the target depths: vertical and inclined shafts, their combinations, as well as spiral ramps. In world practice, inclined workings, which include inclined shafts and spiral ramps, became widely used in the second half of the XX century at mining enterprises along with the development of mechanized mining methods for various types of rocks. The inclined workings can be 6—8 times longer compared to vertical shafts, which inherently increases the cost of their excavation. However, in certain cases, a longer inclined working and transportation along it by road transport provides such considerable advantages that its construction turns out to be a much more feasible option compared to vertical shaft designs with a cage hoist. ....

Keywords: radioactive waste, deep disposal facility, vertical shaft, spiral ramp, inclined shaft, underground research laboratory, transportation of radioactive waste, URL excavations, radioactive waste disposal.

Deryabin S. A., Utkin S. S., Shevtsova E. V., Kazakov K. S., Kuzmin E. V., Barinov A. S., Demin A. V., Svitelman V. S., Ozersky D. A., Bamborin M. Yu. Construction methods for underground RW disposal facilities: analysis of international experience. Radioactive Waste, 2025, no. 1 (30), pp. 57—72. DOI: 10.25283/2587 9707-2025-1-57-72. (In Russian)