Deep Isolation said Wednesday it has completed a three-year-long Department of Energy-funded project that advances the company’s Universal Canister System technology for nuclear waste disposal.
Deep Isolation’s Universal Canister System is a triple-purpose canister designed to ensure the safe storage, transport and permanent disposal of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste, according to its press release.
The DOE-funded initiative, Project Universal Performance Criteria and Canister for Advanced Reactor Waste Form Acceptance in Borehole and Mined Repositories Considering Design Safety (Project UPWARDS), received grant funds from DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The project was funded for $3.7 million, according to ARPA-E’s website.
Additionally, during the project, the company had its Universal Canister System tested with the Deep Borehole Demonstration Center in Cameron, Texas. The results provided “evidence of mechanical integrity and operational viability in simulated real-world geologic conditions, without spent nuclear waste,” according to the release.
Deep Isolation completed the project in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and NAC International.
This marks the completion of Deep Isolation’s second DOE-funded project this year. In May, the company completed another DOE-funded project to demonstrate potential commercial readiness of its Universal Canister System for TRISO spent nuclear fuel.