After more than 20 years of geological survey and investigation, the Beishan area was chosen as one of China ’s likely areas for its GDF for HLW/SF. Beishan, in the Gobi desert, is extremely dry and has been unchanged for millions of years. It is located in a remote area of Gansu Province in northwest China, not far from the west end of China’s Great Wall, Jia-Yu Guan (Jia-Yu Fortress). The narrow aubergine-like Gansu province is also referred to as Western River Corridor (Yellow River West Corridor), linking central China to China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region — crossing and along the Gobi Desert through about a thousand miles linking to the west part of Asia and Eastern Europe as shown in Plate VII (between pages 448 and 449).

A thorough geological survey has been carried out at Beishan (Fig. 22.7). In August 2005, the CAEA revised the long-term HLW geological reposi­tory programme, with the objective of building China’s HLW geological repository by about 2050. China is closely monitoring the potential envi­ronmental impacts of nuclear energy for future generations, particularly where HLW/SF and geological disposal are concerned. China ’s regulator body, the SEPA, implements the activities related to radioactive waste and disposal, which have been managed by the China National Nuclear Corpo­ration (CNNC). Furthermore, China ’s HLW/SF geological disposal R&D programmes are carried out by CNNC’s research and engineering organiza­tion and led by BRIUG.

The Chinese government has approved a three-phase GDF programme:

1. Phase I: Site selection and site confirmation (2001-2020): Technical preparation, HLW disposal/repository programme started in China; geo­logical study, preliminary site characterization and evaluation: investiga­tions on surface geology, hydrogeology and geophysics with the drilling of four boreholes (BS01-04) and in-situ tests in boreholes.

2. Phase II: Underground Research Laboratory (URL) construction and in-situ tests (2010-2030): in-situ tests on EBS on backfill/buffer materi­als, radionuclide migration and use of the necessary natural analogues; mock-up tests and underground lab tests of backfill/buffer materials, together with coupled THMC tests.

3. Phase III: Repository construction (2030-2040): Construction structural design, simulation and modelling, construction and preparation of geo­logical repository engineering work.

While the granite site at Beishan is regarded as the most likely site, China is keeping its options open by also examining a potential GDF site in clay formations in Xinjiang in northwest China.