88. 



that a small group make the formulation and present it to the 

 Committee for discussion and action. Messrs. W . B . Heroy, 

 D. J. Varnes, and H. D. Holland were appointed the Subcommit- 

 tee on Resolutions. See item 14. 



12. In order to obtain a clearer idea of the magnitude of the waste- 

 disposal problem, the following calculation was made: 



Suppose that beginning in I960, nuclear power were produced 

 at a rate equal to the present entire power output of the United 

 States, and the waste products, diluted to the extent of 50 gallons 

 of water per gram of fission products, were injected underground 

 into a sandstone 100 feet thick, having 20 percent porosity, what 

 would be the area of the sand that would be filled with waste prod- 

 ucts by the year 2000? At the meeting an approximate calculation 

 was made, and the following are the slightly revised results: the 

 present power output of the United States is about 4.8 x 10**kw- 

 hr/yr (10 8 kw at a load factor of 0.54). The quantity of U-235 

 required would be 84 metric tons per year, and the diluted wastes 

 would amount to 100 million (42-gal) barrels per year. By the 

 year 2000 the area occupied by the wastes would be 40 square 

 miles, or a square of 6.3 miles to the side -- the size of a large 

 oil field. 



For comparison, in the East Texas oil field, 100 million 

 barrels of water per year are currently being injected through 

 58 wells with 7 -inch casings. Eight wells take over 10,000 bar- 

 rels per day each without pumping. 



Since structural basins this size, or much larger are abun- 

 dant, it is concluded that the deep underground disposal of wastes 

 for a long time to come would involve operations which are small 

 as compared with those of the petroleum industry. 



13. Salient points of the general discussion. 



If the waste solution were to interact with either the rock 

 constituents or the contained brines , precipitates might form 

 which would clog the pores of the reservoir rock. Compatibility 

 of the waste with the rock and water would have to be determined 

 in advance; it will be necessary to treat the waste so it will be 

 compatible . 



