WorldWide Drilling Resource

Potential Site for Used Nuclear Fuel Repository Tested in Canada Adapted from Information by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) A group of scientists and engineers recently lowered six steel canisters (or modules) underground to a depth of about 984 feet in a borehole located outside Ignace, Ontario. Each module - filled with bentonite clay and pieces of copper - will be retrieved periodically over the next ten years to test how those materials react in conditions similar to a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel. The proposed repository to contain and isolate Canada’s used nuclear fuel consists of a series of engineered and natural barriers which will work together to protect people and the environment. Copper and bentonite clay will play important roles the multiple-barrier system’s makeup. Scientists will characterize and quantify the materials’ properties through tests to confirm their long-term integrity in a possible host site. “This is the first time that we have run these tests at a potential repository site,” said an excited Dr. Jeff Binns, associate scientist on the engineered barrier science team at the NWMO, which is leading this project. “By placing it near Ignace, we are able to mimic similar conditions to test the copper and bentonite.” Dr. Binns and his team worked with their NWMO counterparts from the geoscience team, as well as the siting team in Ignace. “They have already collected a lot of data from this site,” said Dr. Binns. “We will use that data to help understand observations from the modules.” The project was a collaborative effort reaching across and beyond the NWMO. Equipment for tests was put together and inserted into the boreholes by Solexperts, a Swiss geotechnical company, and Weatherford International, an American-Irish multinational company. The tests are also part of research currently underway by two Canadian universities. Dr. Sarah Hirschorn, director of geoscience at the NWMO, is looking forward to the information from these tests. “We will remove a couple of modules approximately every two years over a ten-year period,” said Dr. Hirschorn. “Upon removal, the modules will be disassembled, and the samples will be sent to our partners at Western University for corrosion analysis, and the University of Waterloo for microbiological analysis.” At a length of approximately 12 inches, the modules themselves are not impressively large. However, details they reveal will inform the design of a project on a massive scale. Canada’s plan will only proceed in an area with informed and willing hosts, where the municipality, First Nation, Métis communities, and others in the area are working together to implement it. The NWMO plans to select a site in 2023. Two areas remain in the site selection process - the Ignace area and South Bruce, both in Ontario. Dr. Jeff Binns inspects the borehole site following installation of engineered barrier science test modules. 7 JUNE 2022 WorldWide Drilling Resource® ENV In Memoriam Bill W. Hyatt (1934~2022) Bill W. Hyatt, 87, passed away at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, on March 17, 2022. He was born on September 2, 1934, in San Saba, Texas, and attended Lakeview High School in San Angelo, Texas, where he became drum major after defeating polio at age 14. He attended Angelo State University and served in the National Guard. He began his career in the oil industry in Texas; then moved to the water industry in California in 1964, with Johnson Well Screens. He began working for Roscoe Moss Company (RMC), Los Angeles, in January 1969, retiring as vice president in January 2019, after 50 years. During his time at RMC, he traveled worldwide. Between business and pleasure, he visited nearly 90 countries, making many lasting friends along the way. He was a loving and beloved person to family and so many friends. Bill cared deeply for people and genuinely thrived being with them. He was faithful in his commitments to his Lord, his church, family, company, and country. Bill is survived by his wife of 48 years, JeanEtte Taylor Hyatt; sister Peggy; daughter Nedra; daughter-in-law Melodie (widow of Bill’s son Terrill); grandchildren Jamie, Adam, and Lauren; as well as four great-granddaughters. He will also be missed by his large extended family in Texas and Louisiana. The WWDR Team expresses their deepest sympathies to Bill’s family and friends. Lest we forget . . .

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