Carl Myers

Independent Researcher · Not Applicable

It has been shown, in a number of papers presented by the authors, that the construction of a nuclear power park underground, involving a number (six or more) of conventional Generation III+ LWR units, plus reprocessing, fuel re-manufacturing, and waste storage facilities is cost effective (both capital construction cost and operating costs) compar...

"Newcomer" countries expected to develop new nuclear power programs by 2030 are being encouraged by the International Atomic Energy Agency to explore the use of shared facilities for spent fuel storage and geologic disposal. Multinational underground nuclear parks (M-UNPs) are an option for sharing such facilities. Newcomer countries with suitable...

Siting of nuclear power plants in an underground nuclear park has been proposed by the authors in many previous publications, first focusing on how the present 1200 to 1600 MW-electric light water reactors could be sited underground, then including reprocessing and fuel manufacturing facilities, as well as high level permanent waste storage. Recent...

Small modular reactors (SMRs) sited 100 to 300 meters deep in underground chambers constructed in bedrock having favorable geotechnical properties could be both cost effective and provide superior levels of safety and physical security. The bedrock adjacent to and enclosing the reactor chamber would become the functional equivalent of a conventiona...

Oil and gas industry experts state that siting reactors and associated facilities in an extensive underground complex would be an affordable way to increase safety and security and create greater political and social acceptance. There is an innovative solution to the perception and safety problems, a solution that offers many other technical advant...

Underground nuclear power plant parks have been projected to be economically feasible compared to above ground instalIations. This paper includes a thorough cost analysis of the savings, compared to above ground facilities, resulting from in-place entombment (decommissioning) of facilities at the end of their life. reduced costs of security for the...

Siting nuclear power plants and associated reprocessing facilities underground appears, on first thought, to be an expensive proposition. However, a more in-depth analysis of costs shows that a large complex, consisting of a several power plants (6 GW or more) and all the associated reprocessing and fuel manufacturing facilities along with ultimate...

It is possible that hundreds to perhaps thousands of new nuclear power reactors could be deployed this century to help meet the growing global demand for electricity. Underground reactor siting is proposed as a potentially superior alternative to surface siting. Past studies and experience with underground siting proved the engineering feasibility...

The siting of nuclear power plants underground, along with associated reprocessing, fuel manufacturing, and high level waste disposal facilities offer many advantages. Security costs are substantially less, radiative package transportation issues are eliminated, and political issues of high level waste storage and disposal are largely eliminated. K...

The purpose of this work is to extend the discussion of potential advantages of the underground nuclear park (UNP) concept by making specific concept design and cost estimate comparisons for both present Generation III types of reactors and for some of the modular Gen IV or the GNEP modular concept. For the present Gen III types, we propose co-loca...

In this paper we argue that an underground nuclear park (UNP) could potentially lead to lower capital and operating cost for the reactors installed in the UNP compared to the traditional approach, which would be to site the reactors at the earth's surface at distributed locations. The UNP approach could also lead to lower waste management cost. A s...

Underground collocation of nuclear power reactors and the nuclear waste management facilities supporting those reactors, termed an underground nuclear park (UNP), appears to have several advantages compared to the conventional approach to siting reactors and waste management facilities. These advantages include the potential to lower reactor capita...