Permanent underground repositories for radioactive waste

Solid radioactive waste first entered a deep geologic repository in 1959. Liquid radioactive waste has been injected into confined underground reservoirs since 1963. Solid wastes containing chemically toxic constituents with infinite half lives have been isolated underground since 1972. Performance to date of these and other repositories has not caused any of their owners and operators to transfer or contemplate transferring the waste confined in them to presumably safer locations. Natural and engineered analogues offer sound evidence that deep geologic isolation is effective, safe, and compatible with responsible environmental stewardship. Underground isolation of dangerous, including radioactive, wastes is therefore increasingly being used as a safe and reliable method of final disposal.