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| Why salt beds are best for storage & disposal? |
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“The proposed Tellus salt mine will be the safest place for materials in the country in the event of a major earthquake”
Since the 1950’s Government officials & scientists in the US, Canada and Europe have conducted nationwide searches for geological formations stable enough to contain wastes over millions of years. Thick salt beds and salt domes have been recommended as best because:
- salt forms a natural safety barrier - rock salt is practically impermeable to gases and liquids;
- salt has proven its stability and integrity over millions of year;
- salt demonstrates the absence of flowing water - if present, the water would have dissolved the salt;
- salt is relatively easy to mine and creates customised caverns at relatively low cost;
- In an earthquake rock salt heals its own fractures because of its visco-plastic qualities (known as ‘salt creep’). Salt vaults can be designed to slowly entomb buried waste.
In 100 years salt can creep between 7 to 18 metres, entombing anything placed in it. This is at the heart of the safety case.
Tellus will backfill any voids with salt, so there will be no legacy issues from waste storage.
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How does mine remediation work?
All material is accounted for, location recorded and the data file is shared with the authorities. Individual rooms are backfilled and sealed. Galleries are backfilled and sealed.
Mine shafts are backfilled and sealed, totally isolating the 4-6 metre band of materials in a 250 metre thick salt bed 750 metres below ground. Surface infrastructure is removed.
The footprint is rehabilitated so the surface looks the same as before mining started. Land returned to grazing or conservation. The small mine footprint is marked on maps. |
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