Discussion: Facilities/sites

R.E.N. Williams, Billingham Against Nuclear Dumping

In terms of both shallow and deep repositories, over what sort of areas would modelling and subsequent site investigation be appropriate? What would you anticipate in relation to the two sites currently being considered at Elstow and Billingham? Would your investigations extend to sub-sea areas?

J.H. Black

For investigations in layered sediments, the size of the investigated area will depend on how well-bounded the system is geologically and hydrogeologically. In the case of the Worcester basin, for example, an investigation scale in the order of 30 km x 30 km would be envisaged. Modelling will initially tend to include a larger area than is ultimately necessary, and this will evolve as data is gathered. Actual field work (i.e. drilling and testing) would consist of several boreholes within the wider area of interest.