PHL may turn to other countries’ nuclear waste disposal methods

THE Philippines may look to international models for nuclear waste disposal, including geologic burial or sealed cement caskets, experts said as lawmakers tackled the four conventions for nuclear damage.

During the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing, University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences Professor Carlo A. Arcilla cited waste disposal methods in Canada and Gabon.

“Some of the nuclides can [remain] for 100,000 years,” he said. “The only way that you can make it safe for humans is to isolate it from human activity. And the best way to do it is deep geologic burial.”

He noted that the geologic burial method is feasible in the country considering that the Philippines has wells that go as deep as three kilometers.

Mr. Arcilla said that Canada has a uranium deposit in Cigar Lake situated 500 to 600 meters underground which effectively seals nuclear waste.

“It is very rich. [The nuclides] cannot be detected above which means there is no interaction with the groundwater,” he said in mixed English and Filipino, noting that the bentonite as an engineered barrier aids in trapping radioactive ions.

According to Department of Energy (DoE) Director Patrick A. Aquino, most countries with operating nuclear power plants contain their waste within the nuclear facility in sealed cement caskets.

House Special Committee on Nuclear Energy Chairperson Mark O. Cojuangco said the Philippines has a nuclear waste disposal plan as mandated by the Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act, which is to dispose of radioactive waste through deep geological repositories.

However, Senator Erwin T. Tulfo, who presided the hearing, raised concerns over risks of geologic burial of nuclear waste, such as leaks due to earthquakes, to which Mr. Arcilla responded that bentonite has been proven effective in trapping radioactive ions through numerous experiments. 

“It’s really safe. We’ve done experiments on this and it does not leak. Bentonite is the key,” Mr. Arcilla said.

Mr. Cojuangco also assured Mr. Tulfo that the depth of the geologic burial site is enough to prevent leakages, citing the Oklo uranium mine in Gabon, Africa as an example wherein nuclear waste hasn’t moved in two billion years. — Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel