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Radioactive waste

Radioactive waste

Virtual system to analyze underground locations for storing waste from nuclear power plants

DIRK MAHLER / FRAUNHOFERVirtual system to analyze underground locations for storing waste from nuclear power plants DIRK MAHLER / FRAUNHOFER

A virtual laboratory to study underground environments for the storage of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants has been developed in Germany by the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF). Germany is scheduled to phase out nuclear energy by 2020 and is trying to establish more suitable conditions for storing radioactive waste over thousands of years. Until now, European and U.S. scientists have studied this problem at underground labs like the one in Mont Terri, Switzerland, where such components as sealing systems are tested. But a researcher can spend only a limited amount of time in these places. The virtual system shows the geological formations and all underground conditions at the nuclear repository. Work can thus be accomplished at a distance and may contribute toward more in-depth studies into questions like permeability to water and to other liquids and gases. Called VIRTUS, the system provides a 3D projection of the storage site.

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