far below low-density sedimentary rock, drinking water aquifers, and oil and gas deposits. A single borehole would not be big enough to hold all of the nuclear waste produced by a country like the United States, and therefore, a number of them might eventually exist within a single country. Speed of construction Scientists at the University of Sheffield in England say that deep boreholes for nuclear waste disposal can be built much more quickly than a traditional deep geological repository that is excavated like an underground mine for waste disposal. The mined repository approach has been pursued unsuccessfully for many years, but the University of Sheffield engineers say that a borehole could be drilled, filled, and sealed in no more than five years, in contrast to the decades required for a mined repository. See also Horizontal drillhole disposal Ocean disposal of radioactive waste Ocean floor disposal Nuclear fuel cycle Radioactive waste Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository Waste Isolation Pilot Plant References External links Journal of the Geological Society, Jan 2000 by Gibb, Fergus G F 2004 Nirex Report : A Review of the Deep Borehole Disposal Concept for Radioactive Waste Hoag/MIT Thesis - Canister Design for Deep Borehole Disposal of Nuclear waste Sandia National Labs' Performance Assessment of Deep Boreholes Sizer/MIT Thesis - Minor Actinide Waste Disposal in Deep Geological Boreholes 2010 NEI Deep Borehole Article 2010 Physics Today Deep Borehole Article March 2010 Driscoll Presentation at Sandia-MIT Borehole Workshop Radioactive waste Radioactive waste repositories Boreholes