The research team of high-level radioactive waste geological disposal of China National Nuclear Corporation Nuclear and Geological Research Institute

 When the dog squatted at the door and barked, the desert felt like home.

Just past the Mid-Autumn National Day holiday, Wang Ju, deputy dean of the Beijing Geological Research Institute of Nuclear Industry of China National Nuclear Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the Institute of Nuclear and Geosciences), collected names for ten newborn puppies born on the 25th in Beishan, Gansu in the WeChat group.

Beishan No. 25 is the location of the Beishan Underground Laboratory in China.

From the start of site selection in 1985 to the approval of the underground laboratory project in 2019, generations of high-level radioactive waste geological disposal researchers in China have worked hard for more than 30 years.

The temperature in the camp is as high as 40℃ in summer, and going in is like a sauna; in winter, it is sometimes like an ice cellar, with three quilts and three beds barely able to withstand it. But why are a group of Ph.Ds and returnees willing to stay away from their relatives and stay rooted in this no-man’s land, where living materials are extremely scarce.

Squeeze 5000 yuan from other projects as the first pot of gold in my country's nuclear waste disposal research

Wang Ju, who loves music, likes the symphony "Destiny" most. Beethoven's unyielding spirit conveyed in "Destiny" has a high degree of agreement and resonance with Wang Ju.

Sometimes the change of fate is due to a seemingly accidental event. Wang Ju's involvement in the field of high-level radioactive waste disposal was purely accidental.

In 1992, Wang Ju's paper on the genesis of gold and uranium deposits was selected for the 29th International Geological Congress. He went to Kyoto, Japan to participate in the conference. However, what surprised him most is that many internationally renowned uranium mining experts have a special liking for the subject of radioactive waste disposal.

In fact, Xu Guoqing, an expert from the Institute of Nuclear and Geosciences who visited the French Uranium Geology Research Center in 1983, was keenly aware of this new trend. After returning to China, he did a lot of research work and reported the situation to the former Ministry of Nuclear Industry. The 5,000 yuan squeezed out of other projects became the first pot of gold in my country's nuclear waste disposal research.

In 1993, by chance, Wang Ju met Chen Zhangru, an expert in Xu Guoqing's team, and the other party directly shouted: Wang Ju, join the research on high-level radioactive waste disposal. Hearing that "destiny" knock on the door, Wang Ju agreed.

Disposal of nuclear waste, in layman's terms, is to dig a deep pit to bury nuclear waste. Just where to dig the pit, what kind of pit to dig, how to dig it, how to bury it, how to manage it after it is buried, and how to ensure safety? They are all very knowledgeable.

In 1993, Wang Ju became the head of the sub-project of “Research on Geological Disposal Technology of High-Level Radioactive Waste in my country”, but the funds obtained at the initial stage were very limited. Everyone did more desk work, such as investigating foreign disposal technologies and reading the geology of the country. Data, occasionally go to the field to survey, collect geological samples and bring them back to the laboratory for analysis.

After conducting a series of geological, geographic, and hydrological surveys, Wang Ju and his team gradually focused their attention from the six national pre-selection areas to the Beishan pre-selection area in Gansu. The Beishan preselection area located in the northwest is 1500-2500 meters above sea level, with bare mountain bedrock, annual rainfall of about 70 millimeters, and evaporation of up to 3000 millimeters, with an area of ​​thousands of square kilometers uninhabited.

In 20 years, 97 deep and shallow holes were drilled, totaling 40 kilometers

Today, starting from Jiayuguan Airport, following National Highway 312, turning right at a fork in the road, there are already many washboard dirt roads that have been rutted, and wind power companies are busy building infrastructure.

Since 1996, Wang Ju, Jin Yuanxin, Chen Weiming, and Guo Yonghai entered the Gobi from here. The difference was that there was no road at the time, and every time I entered and exited, I could only rely on the memory of the driver's master.

Initially, the scientific research team stayed in the guest house of the 404 factory of China National Nuclear Corporation in the foot of the mountain.

The Gobi is like the sea, and the car is like a boat. The hills seem to be flat, but in fact there are ravines, especially to avoid the intensive camel puncture and tire puncture. During the car driving, it is like a flat boat in the wind and waves. When the turbulence is severe, the internal organs are almost thrown out of the body.

Every day at around 7 o'clock in the morning, the team set off from the foot of the mountain in a jeep to the destination. Under the scorching sun, they collected geological profile information, collected rock samples, had some dry food at noon, and had to rush back at two or three o’clock in the afternoon. Continue to organize the data of the day.

The time on the road was too long and the working hours were too short. Wang Ju and his team began to set up tents on the mountain to do geological surveys and fill maps. At the same time, they submitted application reports for drilling and deep geological environment research to their superiors one after another.

The turning point came in 1999, when the first phase of the TC (technical cooperation) project for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste of the International Atomic Energy Agency was launched. In the same year, Beishan Phase I "Preliminary Study on the Deep Geological Environment of Beishan, Gansu" was approved by the National Atomic Energy Agency. For Wang Ju and the others, they have not only received funds equivalent to the sum of the past ten years, but more importantly, they have started scientific research on high-level radioactive waste disposal.

There is a well named "BS01 Hole" (Beishan No. 1) in the valley. Only a short concrete column is left on the ground. In fact, this well is 703 meters deep underground.

Standing at the place where this dream started, Wang Juqing couldn't help taking out a pile of precious materials, including old photos from 20 years ago.

Today, from Phase I to Phase 7, the Beishan Project has been implemented for 20 years, with 97 deep and shallow holes drilled, totaling approximately 40 kilometers.

Behind the numbers, there are too many hardships and pains that are hard to tell.

The rock core is broken, the desert Gobi is anchored...Too many difficulties and twists and turns have made the scientific research team feel that the mountains are exhausted for a time.

But Wang Ju said that using Fan Zhongyan’s poems, whenever a new core is punched out, new geological data is obtained, and granite bodies with excellent integrity are discovered, the "underground workers" engaged in geological disposal are "innate joy and joy". .

Now that the project has been approved, Wang Ju is leading a team at the new site to start building my country's first underground laboratory for high-level radioactive waste disposal with a depth of 560 meters with an internationally advanced level.