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Environmental Issues in the Geological Disposal of Carbon Dioxide and Radioactive Waste

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Geological Disposal of Carbon Dioxide and Radioactive Waste: A Comparative Assessment

Part of the book series: Advances in Global Change Research ((AGLO,volume 44))

Abstract

A comparative assessment of the post environmental issues for the geological disposal of carbon dioxide (CO2) and radioactive waste (RW) is made in this chapter. Several criteria are used: the characteristics of RW and CO2; their potential environmental impacts; an assessment of the hazards arising from RW and CO2; and monitoring of their environmental impacts. There are several differences in the way that the long-term safety of the disposal of RW and CO2 is regulated and evaluated. While the regulatory procedures relating to the development of a facility for the disposal of RW in many countries with nuclear power programmes are well defined having evolved over several decades, those relating to CO2 disposal are less well developed. The results of this assessment show that, despite key differences, many of the approaches addressing environmental issues are similar. Additionally, much can be learned from the RW disposal experience which will be particularly relevant to the assessments of site performance for CO2 within a regulatory framework, particularly in the methods and approaches to long-term site performance assessment.

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Acknowledgements

This work is published with the permission of the Executive Director of the British Geological Survey (Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)). The authors would like to thank Jon Harrington and Gary Kirby (British Geological Survey), Ian McKinley (McKinley Consulting, Switzerland), Peter Hogarth and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

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  1. British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK

    Julia M. West, Richard P. Shaw & Jonathan M. Pearce

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  1. Julia M. West
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Correspondence to Julia M. West .

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  1. International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramer Str. 5, Wien, 1400, Austria

    Ferenc L. Toth

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West, J.M., Shaw, R.P., Pearce, J.M. (2011). Environmental Issues in the Geological Disposal of Carbon Dioxide and Radioactive Waste. In: Toth, F. (eds) Geological Disposal of Carbon Dioxide and Radioactive Waste: A Comparative Assessment. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 44. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8712-6_3

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