[Myrddin]

Cement has a finite lifetime in the presence of intense radiation. Chernobyl is getting another round of fresh coverage. Attempts to package high level radioactive waste in glass have turned out poorly. At the atomic level, the particles have sufficient energy to pulverize the glass into a fine, radioactive talcum powder. Attempts to stash it at WIPP in New Mexico have failed too. It turns out the salt caverns used are adjacent to water sources under moderate pressure. The salt will soon dissolve and wash the buried material into the subsurface water. The Fukushima site attempted an "ice wall". Ice melts if you don't actively keep it frozen. That scheme has failed.

It's a big mess. Thus far, nobody has come up with a viable strategy to solve it.

[steve86]

Hi, the massive vitrification facility here at Hanford is well on its way to initial operation; indications are that it will be a success. The steep learning curve that technology implementors have encountered has more to do with scaling laboratory processes to plant level than it does with suitability of technology. I’m sure that one could envision a sufficiently high level of radioactivity for which vitrification would be unsuitable but the type of nuclear waste to be processed is well understood and does not pose a threat to the glass encapsulation.

Http://hanfordvitplant.com

[A CA Guy]

That’s why I thought you drop cement, then cover the cement with lead.