China builds bunker to test whether nuclear waste can be dumped underground
- Lab more than 500 metres underground in the Gobi Desert will be the world’s largest of its kind
- If research there is successful, a long-term underground dump for high-level radioactive waste could be built, helping to address a global problem
The Beishan Underground Research Laboratory in the northwestern province of Gansu will be used to research long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste. With its deepest level to be built 560 metres (1,837 feet) below ground, it will be the world’s largest lab of its kind, according to the China Nuclear Energy Association, which promotes nuclear power.
The world has about a quarter of a million tonnes of highly radioactive waste, all kept in “temporary” storage. No country has found a solution for permanent deep geological storage, with public opposition often a factor.
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China’s first Hualong One nuclear reactor begins commercial operations
The Chinese government aims by 2025 to expand the country’s nuclear capacity by about 40 per cent from its late-2020 level. Nuclear power currently makes up only about 5 per cent of China’s power generation.