Abstract: A module for the storage of nuclear waste packages from a nuclear power plant is disclosed comprising a concrete precast container with sidewalls and a bottom, a concrete precast lid removably disposed on upper edges of the sidewalls to close the container, and a cylindrical one-piece seamless liner abutting and covering the interior surface of the container. The liner is provided with anchor elements formed integral with the liner that extend along outside surfaces of the liner sidewalls and bottom wall, and the anchor elements are embedded within the concrete precast sidewalls on the container. The anchor elements are provided by a plurality of ribs which can be T-shaped or dovetail shaped in cross-sectional area and may extend either longitudinally or circumferentially about the liner.

Abstract: A side loading system and method for the underground disposal of radioactive waste is disclosed herein. The vault system is formed from at least one vault cell that comprises a floor slab disposed within a recess in the earth, a ceiling slab disposed over the floor slab, an earth cap disposed over the ceiling slab and an elongated wall assembly disposed around the periphery of the floor slab for supporting the ceiling slab and earth cap. The elongated wall assembly is preferably four times as long as it is wide, and includes a back wall and a front wall, the front wall having an accessway for the side loading of radioactive waste. Radioactive waste is loaded in sequential rows starting from the back wall of the vault cell.

Abstract: A granular fill material is disclosed for use in a storage module for the storing of nuclear and hazardous waste materials. The waste materials are packaged in a waste container which is in turn deposited within the storage module, thereby creating a void space between the waste package or packages and the interior sidewalls of the module. The filler material is reintroduced within the module to fill within this void space, to immobilize the waste containers within the module, and to provide a physical and chemical barrier around the waste containers. The granular filler material comprises a sand filler, an absorbent clay such as Wyoming bentonite, and an organic liquid absorbent material such as Fuller's earth. Other constituents that can be mixed in the granular fill material are an acid neutralizing material such as quicklime or slaked lime, and a getter material for absorbing radionuclides.

Abstract: A vault system is disclosed herein for the disposal of hazardous waste formed from vault cells, each of which has a liquid collection and monitoring system. Each vault cell comprises a liquid impermeable floor slab having a drainage channel for collecting liquids, a wall assembly disposed around the periphery of the floor slab, a ceiling slab overlying the wall upper edge of the assembly, and a monitoring and inspection aisleway disposed between the wall assembly and radioactive waste stacked within the vault cell that encompasses the drainage channel to render it both observable and accessible. The floor slab includes a plurality of feeder channels arranged in a rectangular grid pattern that ultimately drain into the drainage channel and are arranged such that each feeder channel collects liquid from a different rectangular zone within the floor slab so that the location of a leakage condition may be generally determined by observing which feeder channel conveys liquid to the drainage channel.