Establishing An Assred Isolation For Low-Or Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste Management

No new full range low-level radioactive waste disposal facility has been established since the seventies in the United States. The cause is the Fundamental inability to defend the unavoidable uncertainties with the sites natural system and its subsequent long-term performance assessment. A traditional disposal facility must rely on a sites natural characteristics for radioactive waste isolation. The standard of proof for a traditional disposal facility has seemingly escalated from \"reasonable assurance\" to \"beyond a reasonable doubt\" or even \"a scientific certainty.\" For all practical purposed, traditional disposal facilities have become impossible to license. A logical and practical solution to this dilemma is licensing and building an \"assured isolation facility\". An assured isolation facility is a management system for safely isolating waste, while preserving options for its long-term management. An assured isolation facility would have a system of continuous monitoring, accessible facilities, planned preventive maintenance, and financial sureties to address contingencies or implement future alternatives. The primary advantage of assured isolation is that the facility is dependent on natural characteristics for radioactive waste isolation. Instead, the facility relies on a system of active inspection and preventive maintenance on a well-engineered structure. Because assure isolation facilities could therefore solve the international problem of safely managing low-or intermediate-level waste for the indefinite future.