Performance and safety assessment of the co-location of the near surface radioactive waste disposal facilities and borehole disposal concept in the Philippines

Radioactive waste in the Philippines is generated from the application of radioactive materials in medicine, industries, research and education. The PNRI, the operator of the only treatment and storage facilities in the country manages all generated radioactive waste inside its compound in Quezon City. After undergoing treatment and conditioning, the waste is stored in enclosures, each with a capacity of 300 x 200 liter drums awaiting final disposal. A study and evaluation of the co-location of a near surface repository and a deep borehole facility for high activity disused sealed sources is being undertaken. Initial evaluation of the current radioactive waste inventory showed a number of disused radioactive sources that are not acceptable in a near surface repository. The option would then be to adopt the recommended IAEA BOSS concept. The IAEA describes the borehole disposal concept as “the emplacement of solid or solidified radioactive waste in an engineered facility of relatively narrow diameter bored and operated directly from the surface. A range of design concepts have depths ranging from a few meters to hundred meters and a diameter from a few tens of centimeters to more than 1 meter.