The GDF Project: A $83 Billion and 150-Year Infrastructure Marvel with Nuclear Waste Storage at Its Heart

The costly and time-consuming Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) project in Britain has become the most expensive and lengthy major infrastructure project in the country. The construction of this massive underground cave, planned to store radioactive waste accumulated over seven decades of civil nuclear electricity production, requires 36 square kilometers of rock to be tunneled through.

According to estimates from scientists at the Nuclear Waste Service (NWS), the GDF project will take more than 150 years to complete at a total cost of $83 billion, surpassing other major construction projects like Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant and HS2 London – Birmingham railway. The sheer volume of radioactive waste alone requires space equal to 8 Albert Hall auditoriums.

As the completed project will need to accommodate additional waste generated by future nuclear power plants, two potential locations are under consideration – one off the coast of Lincolnshire and another off the coast of Cumbria. Workers will dig deep tunnels to create giant silos in impermeable clay and mudstone for the ultimate repository of nuclear waste.

The long half-lives of radioactive materials like plutonium and uranium require long-term measures like GDF projects for safe storage. Without a place to store waste, the nuclear industry cannot be sustainable. Environmental organizations are organizing protests against the project, citing concerns about its impact on tourism in areas like Mablethorpe and Copeland. Despite these objections, the debate over nuclear waste management and GDF construction remains contentious in Britain.