The geological nuclear waste repository due for completion in 2055 will cost Romania over two billion dollars, president of the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRAD) Gheorghe Ionita stated on Aug. 28.
No country has yet such a deep geological repository and the first might be constructed in the US by 2020, probably at the same time with similar facilities in Sweden and Finland.
ANDRAD will develop a research program on the concept of ecological nuclear waste disposal, the establishment of an underground laboratory for research in the area and a R&D program on the selection of the host rock and of the location.
The south-eastern region of Dobrogea is considered for the establishment of the repository, due to the vicinity to the waste generator - the Cernavoda nuclear power plant - and given the fact that the repository can be built in green schist granitic rock; as this mineral is specific to Romania, the country could however hardly benefit from relevant international expertise.
Deep waste storage facilities can also be built be in clay, salt or pozzolana, which can all be found in Romania.
The planned storage facility is intended only for radioactive waste from Romania, but international initiatives for the construction of regional such facilities also exist.