Dr. Conca reports that yes, we can. It is called Deep Borehole Disposal and is pretty easy for some nuclear waste. Especially some highly radioactive materials that have sat in some fairly small capsules for almost 40 years.
This was exactly the topic of discussion in Washington this week when Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz answered questions from Rep. Dan Newhouse - R-WA - at a House Science, Space and Technology committee hearing. The answer from Moniz was positive. He discussed a pilot project that would demonstrate the idea of deep borehole disposal using these capsules. Deep borehole disposal is simple. Drill a very deep hole 3 miles or so put the waste in it and fill it up with some special layers, but mainly crushed rock and cement. As geologists, we know how many millions of years it takes for anything to get up from that depth in the Earth crust.
But there is a time-sensitive nature to these capsules. Although CsCl does not melt until 645 degrees C (1,193 degrees F), it goes through a bizarre solid-state phase change at 450 degrees C (842 degrees F). This means that without melting, the atoms change their arrangement in space from one structure to another with a very different density. So as the temperature changes across this boundary, the material swells and shrinks. And that tends to degrade the containers.
The existing containers are beginning to get a little degraded, so best to get rid of them as soon as possible. They are small, so deep borehole disposal would be cheap and easy.
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