Disposal of radioactive waste in rock caverns; current situation in the Czech Republic

Disposal of Czech institutional radioactive waste began in 1959. Waste (predominantly low level and short-lived) is disposed of in rock chambers that have been excavated in several different rock types, originally for different purposes, and subsequently used for radioactive waste disposal. All Czech radioactive waste repositories are operated by the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (RAWRA). The oldest Czech repository is Alcazar near Beroun, a town in central Bohemia. This repository commenced operation in 1959. Two galleries in Devonian limestone were excavated between 1942 and 1944. Disposal at Alcazar ended in 1965. In 1994, the repository was closed. Bratrstvi, near the town of Jachymov in NW Bohemia, has been in continuous operation since 1974. Only waste contaminated by natural radionuclides is disposed of at this repository. Five chambers and the access gallery are parts of an abandoned uranium mine. The repository is situated in metamorphic rocks. The most important repository for institutional waste disposal is the Richard II facility near the town of Litomerice in northern Bohemia. Galleries and chambers currently used for disposal are part of an underground system excavated from an extensive lens of clayey limestone of Turonian age. The original purpose was the underground mining of limestone. Radioactive waste has been disposed of here since 1964.