It will not be possible to dispose safely of large quantities of 

 high-level waste in many large sections of the country. This cir- 

 cumstance may dictate that it will not be economically feasible to 

 place those types of power reactors or other nuclear facilities which 

 produce liquid wastes in large quantity in such unfavorable sections 

 of the country. We have on several occasions been asked such ques- 

 tions as "Where can waste be disposed of within 25 miles of Tarry- 

 town, New York?" The answer almost certainly is that waste cannot 

 be disposed of safely anywhere near this site. We stress that the 

 necessary geologic investigation of any proposed site must be com- 

 pleted and the decision as to a safe disposal means established before 

 authorization for construction is given. Unfortunately such an inves- 

 tigation might take several years and cause embarrassing delays in 

 the issuing of permits for construction. This situation can only be 

 handled by starting investigation now of a large number of potential 

 future sites as well as the complementary laboratory investigations 

 of disposal methods. 



With the example of Tarrytown mentioned above it might be re- 

 marked that the probability of finding a safe ultimate disposal means 

 at the Savannah River plant appears equally gloomy. This only 

 serves to emphasize the need for consideration of disposal before a 

 site is chosen. 



A discussion of the various possibilities for waste disposal may 

 be found in Appendices C and D, the Reports of the Committees for 

 "deep" and "shallow" disposal, respectively. 



The most promising method of disposal of high level waste at 

 the present time seems to be in salt deposits (see Appendix F by 

 Heroy). The great advantage here is that no water can pass through 

 salt. Fractures are self-sealing. Abandoned salt mines or cavities 

 especially mined to hold waste are, in essence, long-enduring tanks. 

 The possibility of making cavities in salt by pumping in water and 

 removing brine is not favored (except for waste in solid form) unless 

 the size and shape of such a cavity can be accurately controlled. The 

 major element of potential risk in disposal in salt is that the cavity 

 will collapse, structurally, in time. Salt is a weak material and will 

 flow. Hence research is needed on size and shape of openings -which 

 can be relied upon to be structurally stable. The cavities should be 

 at relatively shallow depth to avoid high confining pressures. Salt 

 beds and mines are abundantly available along the south side of the 

 Great Lakes from New York to Michigan and also in the form of salt 

 domes along much of the Gulf Coast. Smaller salt deposits are 



