The United States of America Department of Energy plans to construct the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico to demonstrate the feasibility of disposing of defense-related radioactive waste in bedded salt at a depth of 650 metres below the surface. The location was carefully selected to contain the radioactive waste for thousands of years until the natural decay process renders the waste nontoxic. Under the present authorization, the construction of exploratory shafts to the repository level and the excavation of underground experimental entries are scheduled to begin under the design validation program in July 1980. The program is intended to conduct the necessary measurements and observations to support critical design parameters. The full design capability of the plant will only be realized after sufficient supporting data have been accumulated to ensure the safety of both short-term operation and long-term disposal of nuclear waste. The completed plant will include surface and underground facilities for receiving and disposing of waste. Four shafts Will be constructed to serve the requirements of material handling and ventilation. The underground plant will extend over 850 000 square metres, The total cost of the project is estimated at about $450 million. INTRODUCTION In the United States, the accumulation of radioactive waste and its safe disposal have become key elements in the debate on the use of nuclear energy. In parallel with the program dealing with disposal of waste from the nuclear power projects, safe and reliable methods of permanently disposing of radioactive waste accumulated from the defense program must be demonstrated. A major effort to resolve the issue will be made in the semiarid plain and sand dune country near Carlsbad, New Mexico (Figure 1). The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to construct the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to demonstrate the feasibility of disposing of defense-related radioactive waste at a depth of 650 metres in the bedded salt of the Delaware basin. The satisfactory placement of defense radioactive waste in deep geologic formations will provide an important technical demonstration of a disposal scheme to defense-related work and will provide further information which can be adapted to the disposal of commercial radioactive waste under the U.S. Waste Management Program. WIPP is not a pilot plant in the usual meaning of a limited small-scale plant but will be a full-scale facility when completely developed. However, the full design capability will only be realized after sufficient supporting in-situ data have been collected under a limited, design validation program. This program includes the construction of two exploratory shafts, experimental entries and test rooms (Figure 2). The WIPP program is the result of waste management efforts that were started by the U.S. Government as far back as 1955 when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission requested the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate methods of disposing of radioactive waste in geologic formations. After various studies were completed, the Academy recommended bedded salt as the geologic formation providing the highest confidence for long-term isolation of radioactive waste from the biosphere.

Nations confronted with the safe disposal of high-level radioactive wastes expect to solve that problem by using subsurface repositories in deep (<1,000 meters) geologic formations. Principal rock types being considered include domal and bedded salt, granite, argillaceous sediments, basalt, volcanic tuff, and anhydrite. Geologic and hydrologic characteristics of these rocks are being investigated on a regional scale as well as at several specific sites. Thermal, geochemical, and rock-mechanical properties are also being studied by in-situ and laboratory methods. Subsurface disposal of radioactive wastes has gained increased acceptance from twelve years of favorable experience at the converted salt mine at Asse, Federal Republic of Germany. That nation has also selected the Gorleben salt dome in which to develop the first repository for high-level wastes. Considerable research has been conducted on bedded salt at the WIPP site in the United States, on the granite at Stripa, Sweden under a joint Swedish-American program, and on Tertiary clays at Mol, Belgium, and Trisaia, Italy. Collective developments from fourteen national programs are summarized and include additional applications of "subsurface space" for the disposal of radioactive wastes other than high-level. INTRODUCTION During the decade of the 1970's there developed within those nations confronted with the permanent disposition of radioactive wastes an increased commitment toward safely utilizing subsurface space to solve this international disposal problem. Where intermediate- and high- level wastes, including spent fuel, are involved, the technologic approach that has clearly emerged as the most widely supported, especially by the technical-scientific community, and is the most extensively pursued by every national waste-disposal program involves the engineered containment of solidified wastes within subsurface repositories. Although low-level wastes, including some transuranic elements, continue to be emplaced by several nations in shallow trenches and lined boreholes at land-burial sites, interest has also increased in using shallow-depth, bedrock repositories or converting abandoned subsurface mines to handle this category of wastes. The only non-repository disposal schemes currently being followed or investieated are injection of liquid wastes through controlled boreholes into deep rock units, and placement of containerized wastes into the soft sediment of the deep-ocean sea floor. For more than ten years, the USSR has injected low- and intermediate-level wastes into confined sandstone aquifers some 1,500 meters deep below a site near Dimitrovgrad. Soviet activities in the design of surface engineered storage however seem to indicate a decidedly lower potential for deep-well injection relative to the disposal of high level wastes. Slurry-cement injection of intermediate-level wastes combined with hydraulic fracturing accomplished beneath the United States government facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee during the 1960's is presently not practiced. Research into true seabed disposal, as opposed to conventional ocean dumping, is very preliminary, and only three nations, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States, have seriously investigated this approach. Seabed disposal faces both formidable technical problems as well as numerous international policy issues. In the opinion of the authors, these collective obstacles could well preclude this method from becoming a viable disposal option for any of the more hazardous radioactive wastes.

A geotechnical investigation was conducted to confirm the feasibility of using the Central Rock Limestone Mine, Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.A. for crude oil storage as part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Evaluation of containment potential was based on the criteria that there should be a static head of water above the mine greater than the maximum allowable operating pressure in the vapor space in the storage cavern, and that there should be an hydraulic gradient toward the mine sufficient to prevent escape of vapors. In the investigation, emphasis was placed on evaluating the groundwater conditions around the mine by means of piezometers installed in boreholes drilled from the surface. INTRODUCTION As part of the United States Department of Energy Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) program, a number of existing, conventional room and pillar mines have been evaluated to establish suitability as crude oil storage caverns. These include two salt mines, Weeks Island and Cote Blanche in Louisiana, and two limestone mines, Ironton in Ohio and Central Rock in Kentucky. This paper presents the results of the geotechnical certification program conducted for the Central Rock Limestone Mine which has a potential storage capacity of approximately 14.0 million barrels (2.2 million m 3 ). Emphasis is given to the procedures used to demonstrate that the existing groundwater conditions around the mine are such as to prevent product leakage. CERTIFICATION CRITERIA Prior to the SPR program, there had been widespread experience in the United States with the storage of LPG's and natural gas in solution caverns in salt and in purpose-built mined caverns in a variety of rock types. Natural gas had been stored also in a converted coal mine, but there had been no experience with underground storage of crude oil either in solution caverns, purpose-built mined caverns or converted mines. This lack of experience meant that there were no established criteria for certifying a mine as suitable for storage. The solution caverns included in the SPR have been certified by means of hydrostatic testing, a straightforward technique for a cavern that is always full of a fluid. This technique could be considered for a converted mine using either water or a gas, but it would be expensive due to the extensive measures required to seal the mine, and possibly environmentally unacceptable due to problems with disposal of the test fluid. It was thus determined that the converted mines in the SPR should be certified by indirect means on the basis of thorough geotechnical investigations. The general criteria established were that the mine should be sufficiently stable as to allow safe and satisfactory operation for the projected life of the facilities, that there should be no significant leakage of stored product, and that there should be no adverse reaction between the stored product and the host rock. In the case of an existing mine, it is relatively straightforward to assess stability conditions on the basis of in-mine inspection, supplemented by appropriate quantitative analyses. The potential for reaction between the host rock and the stored product can be evaluated with appropriate laboratory tests and is also a relatively straightforward criterion to satisfy.

Description of the development of a comprehensive plan called the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) to alleviate water pollution and provide an outlet for flood waters. Principle features of the project include 209 km (130 miles) of tunnel in rock 3.0–10.7 m (10 - 35 feet) in diameter and 45.7–91.4 m (150 - 300 feet) below ground, 320 drop shafts to divert wet weather flows from 640 existing combined sewer overflow outlets to the tunnels, a quarried reservoir of 33,589 hectare/.30 meter (83,000 acre-foot) capacity, and a 2000 barrel/day (710 mgd) underground pumping plant to pump the contaminated water to an existing sewage treatment plant. Included is a summary of contracts, financing and a description of mining equipment used for boring in rock. BACKGROUND OF TARP The first settlement in Chicago in the 1830's was only 0.61 m (2 ft) above the level of Lake Michigan. The area was flat and swampy with local streams and rivers generally flowing to Lake Michigan. Repeated outbreaks of cholera and typhoid fever in the middle and late 1800's led to the reversal of the river system (away from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River). As a result of this reversal, the Chicago land area has had to restrict water withdrawals from Lake Michigan and has had to develop and implement water management programs in compliance with orders set down by the Supreme Court of the United States. In order to comply with restricted lake diversion requirements and to compensate for a natural setting which was essentially hostile to human habitation, it has been necessary to embark on the construction of massive public works which include the world's largest water filtration plants, the world's largest wastewater treatment plants and finally the construction of TI\RP. The rivers and streams in the Chicago area are the headwaters of the Illinois Waterway system. These headwaters are heavily polluted from combined sewer overflows of the area. Present.pollution control laws require that combined sewer overflows be eliminated so that the rivers and streams can be used by the citizens of Cook, Du Page and Will Counties and other downstream communities. Fifty-three of the older most densely populated communities including the City of Chicago, covering an area of 971 sq km (375 sq miles), are served by combined sewers. Combined sewers carry both raw sewage and stormwater. Because porous ground surfaces have been covered over by buildings, streets and parking lots, stormwater runoff into sewers frequently exceeds the capacity of the sewers. When this happens, flows from the combined sewers bypass treatment plants and discharge rainwater mixed with raw sewage directly into the area's waterways at 645 overflow points. The result is severe pollution of the waterways and flooding in many communities. During particularly heavy rains, overloaded rivers may have to be relieved by opening the locks and allowing the polluted waterways to flow into Lake Michigan, the region's water source. TARP is designed to intercept the flow of combined sewers, and store their mixture of rainwater and sewage until it can be pumped to treatment plants, purified, and released into the waterways as clean water.

The rationale for using subsurface space applies to developing nations but very little has been done. Using mined-out space for food storage may help solve the serious problems of post-harvest food losses and hunger. Much of the mined-out space in the developing nations is unsuited to secondary use but investigations are needed to determine what and where the potential is. INTRODUCTION In exploring the concept of using underground space for storage in the developing countries of the world, certain observations became apparent. Underground development is gaining great momentum in business, academic, and governmental circles. Even the public, in parts of the United States, is developing earth-sheltered housing at an astonishing rate. A new regard for basic resources has caused attention to be focused on earth-sheltered housing. They cost less to build, to heat, to cool, and to maintain. Today, we must move from a philosophy of waste and exploitation of non-renewable resources towards conservation. It was inevitable that sooner or later we would begin to truly and appropriately value the basic resources on this planet, including subsurface space. This symposium has as its focus three primary advantages of subsurface space. I would like to look at these for a moment and consider how they might apply to the developing countries. ENERGY SAVINGS We tend to think of the developing countries as having low-energy economies, and compared to the industrialized nations, this is true. But the high cost of energy of the past few years has hit the developing nations very hard. It has caught them when popular expectations were beginning to rise with standards of living. Now, high-cost energy is draining their treasuries of the precious foreign reserves and capital required to maintain their economic growth. Agricultural development, industrial and technical advances, and improved social services are also being impaired. During this century, the process of modernization has been largely subsidized by cheap energy. Except for the oil-rich, this is no longer possible; and yet for the present, we have no replacement. So while it is true that long and quick-tempered lines at the gas pump will probably not appear in the villages of Zambia, Thailand, and Honduras, it is also true that energy conservation is as important in the developing countries as in the industrialized nations. PROTECTION OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT Since World War II, probably the greatest human migration in history has been occurring in the developing countries--the migration from the countryside to the cities. It goes on still, creating gigantic urban centers where once only large towns stood. New Delhi has increased its population over 400% in this period. No wonder they are thinking of building an underground transit system. Calcutta's, by the way, is already under construction. Trying to deal with such logistical problems on the surface was really quite out of the question. So I don't think there is any doubt that the great cities of the developing world will be looking underground to solve some of their problems. In fact, architect Jannson of Sweden (1974) predicts that urban subsurface construction will double every ten years in both the developed and developing countries.

The concept of disposal of radioactive wastes in mined caverns in geological formations was proposed over two decades ago. During the formulative years of study, the research and development activities were directed primarily to the disposal of wastes in salt beds. During the latter half of the 1970–79 decade, the waste technology programs were expanded substantially in finances and personnel in the USA, canada, Sweden, and West Germany, and in consideration of a broader range of geologic media, including granite, basalt, tuff, and shale. This paper examines the state-of-the-art of the technology developed to date for geologic disposal and the key issues of concern to the public and technical communities, and provides an assessment of what is viewed as being required to transform the notion of geologic disposal from concept to fact. The position is taken that the level of technology is immediately adequate for the geologic disposal of low-level radioactive wastes, and for the retrievable storage of high-level wastes. Furthermore, it is the opinion of the authors that the technology programs planned for the 1980–89 decade will provide the resolution required for safe, permanent disposal of high-level wastes in mined geologic caverns. INTRODUCTION Historical Perspective. In response to a request by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the National Academy of Sciences--National Research Council (NAS-NRC) established a committee of geologists and geophysicists in 1955 for the purpose of considering the disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in geologic structures within the continental United states. In 1957, this committee proposed disposal of wastes in natural salt formations as the most promising method of the future (NAS-NRC Committee on Waste Disposal,' 1957). The recommendations of the committee resulted in the initiation of studies of high-level radioactive waste disposal in salt, with early investigations by the oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) directed toward the disposal of liquid waste (Parker, and others, 1960). In 1961, the NAS-NRC Committee reviewed the progress of the work since 1955, and concluded that "… experience both in the field and in the laboratory on disposal of wastes in salt have been very productive, well conceived, and that plans for the future are very promising" (NAS-NRC Committee on Geologic Aspects of Radioactive Waste Disposal, 1961). Moreover, the Committee noted that" … the interpretations relating to disposal in salt are by the very nature of salt deposits capable of being extrapolated to a considerable degree from one deposit to another …" and recommended strongly that "the effect of storing dry packaged radioactive wastes in a salt deposit be tested …". As a consequence of these recommendations, Project Salt Vault was designed and conducted at the carey salt Mine near Lyons, Kansas in the 1960's, using irradiated fuel elements as a simulant for reprocessing calcined solidified wastes (Bradshaw and McClain, 1971). This study was followed by a conceptual repository design for the bedded salt lithology of the Lyons area, and the Subsequent abandonment of the site in 1972 for a variety of political and technical reasons.

All of the topics under discussion at this symposium are directly related to public welfare and the quality of life. To be implemented, many of the ideas will require large amounts of public funding. It is appropriate therefore that those elected and entrusted by the public with the task of safeguarding the public's welfare and disbursing public funds wisely, be active participants at this symposium. I congratulate the organizing committee on their foresight and am sure that much lasting good will come from the legislator-technologist interaction. It is a privilege for me to be invited to present a legislator's view of the value of this cooperation. I should say at the outset that, although I plan to talk primarily about sub-surface space, as a legislator, I am interested in all technologies and all ideas that have the potential of improving public well-being. Therefore, many of my remarks will be general in application. My main objective here is to urge communication between technologists and government officials. Unless political forces join with technical experts, public policy cannot be advanced. You should know that legislators are generalists in most subjects, expert in none, and knowledgeable in only a few. If those in government do not understand the problems and potential solutions, there is no way their governing can lead to real progress. Your expertise is needed, and can have a tremendous effect when interwoven with the power of policymakers. In September of 1977, I had the privilege along with five colleagues from the Minnesota Legislature to attend Rockstore 77 here in Stockholm in this very pavilion. I was impressed that there were over 1000 technical experts from 50 different countries that had gathered for a week to discuss, among other subjects, underground disposal of radioactive waste, underground oil and gas storage and, the energy and conservation implications of underground space use. What was obvious and disturbing to the six of us was that we, from just one of the 50 states of the United States, were the only elected officials who took the time to come and hear what the technocrats had to offer. Not one of us is an engineer or has anything closely resembling a degree in engineering. We were all members of a legislative commission that oversees Minnesota's natural resources and dispenses funds to upgrade and enhance the same. Even as lay persons and elected officials, we were interested in the interaction between technology and the policymakers of government. It is imperative for those of us who help set policy in a state or in a country and who hold the power of the purse, to interact with technical experts. This interaction must occur before the pol icy is made, and continue throughout the several forms that policy must adopt before final legislative action occurs. I cannot pretend to be intimately familiar with legislative and policy-making procedures in other countries, but I do believe that there are sufficient similarities in all legislator-technologist exchange situations to make it useful to offer some general observations. The world desperately needs workable technological solutions quickly - the needs differ in the developed and in the developing countries, but they are there. The technology to solve the problem is in most cases, also there. Why is it not applied?

This paper discusses the current activity ann, in particular, the current research efforts in the area of earth sheltered building design, construction, and acceptance in the U.S. INTRODUCTION Interest in the use of earth sheltered buildings has expanded greatly in the past 6 years, and particularly in the last 2 years. Prior to 1973, there were only a few isolated earth sheltered houses and scattered commercial and institutional examples of underground buildings in the United States. These were mostly built for design aesthetics or environmental reasons. Since then the number of earth sheltered buildings and houses being built has increased very rapidly. Since earth sheltering is not yet a term that is universally understood, it would perhaps be well to further define the concept before embarking on a discussion of what research is currently underway in the field. In broad terms, earth sheltering uses the earth as a barrier and a moderator. The earth Moderates temperature extremes in the air, and moderates surface vibrations and airborne noise. It acts as a barrier to storm and wind effects, ultraviolet degradation, and an undesirable visual environment. It has a large thermal mass that can work well with an intermittent energy supply such as solar energy. The earth is also a natural element which supports vegetation and, hence, the other life processes on which we ultimately depend. Using the earth to shelter a house or building, then, is a means of providing a natural barrier to many undesirable climatic and man-made features of a particular area. The impact of the building on the surrounding environment will also be lessened, allowing more of the land's surface to remain in a natural state. Furthermore, and of particular importance at the present time, earth sheltering serves as a massive means of decreasing the dependence of the building on artificial methods of climate control derived from fossil fuel energy. Naturally, there are also some disadvantages to earth sheltered structures. These relate primarily to the heavier and stronger structure required, tile need for high quality waterproofing and insulation to combat exposure to ground moisture, and the need for a higher level of design and supervision in small scale construction. Although earth sheltered designs are not limited to any fixed definitions, it will perhaps be helpful to explain two of the basic layouts that are typical of earth sheltered construction. A typical design that is very appropriate for colder climates is the elevational design in which windows and openings are grouped on one side of the structure, with the remaining three sides and roof earth-covered. When the windows do face south, a maximum amount of passive solar heating can be achieved to combine with the low energy requirements of the structure. A courtyard or atrium design is quite common and is a very appropriate design for a flat site or a warm climate. The courtyard does not have to be totally enclosed. Using a U-shaped courtyard allows an easier transition and visual connection to the surrounding ground.

The paper discusses the energy-saving potential of earth-sheltered buildings and the U.S. Department of Energy's research, development and demonstration activities and plans regarding their commercialization. INTRODUCTION The subject of my presentation--earth-sheltered buildings--involves a happy intersection of a problem and a potential. The problem is well recognized--the scarcity of energy and its rising price. The problem requires that we undertake effective energy conservation programs. In the United States, fully 37 percent of the nation's energy is used in the residential and commercial building sector. This underscores the importance of U.S. building energy conservation programs. The potential is not so broadly recognized. It is the potential of earth-sheltered designs to reduce by up to 30 to 60 percent or more the energy required for the heating and cooling of buildings. The U.S. Department of Energy regards earth-sheltered buildings as the promising alternative it is considering in its innovative structures program. The Department has monitored earth-sheltered building trends, supported research, identified barriers to commercialization, disseminated information, and is applying earth-sheltered designs to one of its own new buildings. HISTORY The term, earth-sheltered buildings, has not been captured by a formal definition. A good working definition applies the term to buildings with earth protection for 50 percent or more of the area of their roofs and exterior walls. Few of the buildings are entirely underground. but all use the earth to improve their energy performance. The current interest in earth-sheltered buildings is simply the latest chapter in man's continuing struggle to adapt to his environment. The first chapter was the caves inhabited at the dawn of human history. A more elegant version are the homes found in Ajanta, India, that date back to the 5th and 6th Centuries, A.D. A few centuries later, refugees from a crumbling Roman Empire, carved houses into soft, cone-shaped rocks in Cappadocia, Turkey. The Tunisian atrium houses through the century have provided protection from that area's extreme heat. The sod houses of the pioneers of the American prairie were another practical application of earth-sheltered design to cope with severe weather conditions where other building materials were not easily available. A rebirth of interest in earth-sheltered buildings has occurred in the United States during the past two decades. It has been nurtured by various themes. In the early phase, fear of atomic war led to habitable fallout shelters. In the later 1960's and 1970's, the environmental movement led architects to create earth-sheltered designs that were in harmony with the natural environment. The energy-saving benefits of earth-sheltered designs have fanned the rapidly spreading interest in the last half of the 1970's. As director of the Minnesota Energy Agency from 1975 to 1979 when I joined the U.S. Department of Energy, I participated in Minnesota's leadership in the support of earth-sheltered buildings. In the past few years, a state-sponsored guidebook, "Energy Sheltered Housing Design," (Underground Space Center, 1978) has become a best seller, selling more than 100,000 copies. A map of earthsheltered buildings is speckled with activity in all parts of the country with concentrations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Oklahoma (Vadnais, 1980).