WorldWide Drilling Resource

Drill Team to Begin Deep Borehole Research Adapted from a Press Release by Battelle Memorial Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy The u.S. Department of Energy (DOE) se- ected a Batte e Memor a Inst tute- ed team to dr a test boreho e of over 16,000 feet nto a crysta ne basement rock format on near Rugby, North Dakota. Th s s a major step n exp or ng the sc ence needed for the ut zat on of deep boreho es n crysta ne rock format ons. One of the most prom s ng app cat ons s the potent a for d sposa of certa n types of h gh- eve rad oact ve wastes; another cou d be geotherma energy deve opment. The f e d test w prov de ns ght nto crosscutt ng subsurface sc ence and eng neer ng cha enges such as dr ng techn ques, we bore stab ty and sea ng, as we as subsurface charac- ter zat on. “We are so p eased to ead th s great team on th s mportant sc ent f c m ss on for the Department of Energy,” sa d Rod Osborne, Batte e's energy bus ness ne manager. “Char- acter zat on and test ng of subsurface geo ogy s our strong su t. We've been do ng t for near y two decades and we fee that w nn ng th s project s an aff rmat on of that ex- pert se.” The Energy & Env ronmenta Research Center at the un vers ty of North Dakota has s te-spec f c know edge; Sch umberger w oversee the dr ng and So experts, a Sw ss geo og c test ng company, w support Batte e n test ng the underground we system. Facu ty from the un vers ty of P ttsburgh w a so consu t on the project. “Th s s an mportant f rst step to ncreas ng our sc ent f c understand ng of the potent a uses for crysta ne rock format ons,” sa d DOE Secretary Mon z, “ nc ud ng the feas b ty of boreho es as an opt on for ong-term nuc ear waste d sposa .” Over 40 years ago, sc ent sts suggested the dea of d spos ng of nuc ear weapons product on waste n ho es dr ed m es nto gran te. In January 2012, the B ue R bbon Comm s s on on Amer ca s Nuc ear Future recommended research nto the poss b ty of us ng deep boreho es “part cu ar y as a d sposa a ternat ve for certa n forms of waste that have essent a y no potent a for reuse.” Determ n ng the feas b ty of deep boreho e d sposa s the goa of the DOEs est mated $35 m on, f ve-year project on ap- prox mate y 20 acres of state- owned and. Th s research w nc ude exam nat on of the hy- drogeo og ca , geochemca , and geomechan ca character st cs of the host rock at cons derab e depth. Researchers w co ect extens ve data dur ng dr ng and a ow for spec a zed sc ent f- c test ng after dr ng s com- p ete. No rad oact ve mater a w be used dur ng any of the test ng for th s boreho e project. Sc ent sts have dent f ed many areas n the un ted States w th arge, geo og ca y stab e rock format ons s m ar to the Rugby, North Dakota ocat on. The work n North Dakota w he p ncrease understand ng of s m ar ocat ons across the country. Editor’s Note: In between our print issues, the WWDR Team prepares an electronic newsletter called E w Flas -Ne s h . Based on readership, this was the most popular e s Fla E-N w sh article of the month. Get in on the action and subscribe today at: www.worldwidedrillingresource.com 13+- 1' 3( * # +4 1'#3(+4* 0-+&#: // #/& 0/7'/5+0/ '/5'3 *0/' < 03 300. $00,+/) 64' )3061 %0&' " 888 *0-+&#: +// %0. 41'#3(+4*4& #.'4 % 6-5: < $+58%0/('3'/%' ).#+- %0. 06) 0: < &06)* 4#:3'#440%+#5'4 %0. 03 .03' +/(03.#5+0/ 03 50 3')+45'3 0/-+/' )0 50 $+58%0/('3'/%' 03) !'%*/+%#- 4'44+0/4 < $#/26'5 < -+7' 4%*0-#34*+1 #6%5+0/ < '9*+$+503 $005*4 8+5* 5*' -#5'45 +/ $-#45+/) 5'%*/0-0): #/& 130&6%54 < -6/%* < &003 13+;'4 < #/& .6%* .03' ' : 6 5* 3' ' 0 ' ')+ 5'3 08 ' 4 ' 21 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® MARCH 2016