# US 2021/0333256 A1 · Testing subterranean water for a hazardous waste material repository

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- Number: US 2021/0333256 A1
- Document ID: US20210333256A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/175,106
- Filed: 2021-02-12
- Published: 2021-10-28
- Earliest claimed: 2019-02-21
- Assignees: Deep Isolation, Inc.
- Applicants: Deep Isolation, Inc.
- Inventors: Richard A. Muller; John Linus Grimsich
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210333256A1

## CPC

- G21F 9/34: Disposal of solid waste
- B09B 1/008: {Subterranean disposal, e.g. in boreholes or subsurface fractures}
- G01N 33/182: {Specific anions in water}
- G01N 1/08: involving an extracting tool, e.g. core bit
- G21F: PROTECTION AGAINST X-RADIATION, GAMMA RADIATION, CORPUSCULAR RADIATION OR PARTICLE BOMBARDMENT; TREATING RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED MATERIAL; DECONTAMINATION ARRANGEMENTS THEREFOR (radiation protection by pharmaceutical means A61K8/00, A61Q17/04; in cosmonautic vehicles B64G1/54; combined with a reactor G21C11/00; combined with X-ray tubes H01J35/16; combined with X-ray apparatus H05G1/02)
- B09B: DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)

## Abstract

Techniques for determining the suitability of a subterranean formation as a hazardous waste repository include determining a neutron flux of a first isotope in a subterranean formation; calculating, based at least in part on the determined neutron flux of the first isotope, a predicted production rate of a second isotope in the subterranean formation; calculating a first ratio of the predicted production rate of the second isotope relative to a theoretical production rate of a stable form of the second isotope; measuring respective concentrations of the second isotope and the stable form of the second isotope in a subterranean water sample; calculating a second ratio of the measured concentration of the second isotope relative to the measured concentration of the stable form of the second isotope; and based on a comparison of the first and second ratios, determining that the subterranean formation is suitable as a hazardous waste repository.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method, comprising:
determining a neutron flux of a first isotope in a subterranean formation;
calculating, based at least in part on the determined neutron flux of the first isotope, a predicted production rate of a second isotope in the subterranean formation;
calculating a first ratio of the predicted production rate of the second isotope relative to a theoretical production rate of a stable form of the second isotope;
measuring respective concentrations of the second isotope and the stable form of the second isotope in a subterranean water sample from the subterranean formation;
calculating a second ratio of the measured concentration of the second isotope relative to the measured concentration of the stable form of the second isotope; and
based on a comparison of the first and second ratios, determining that the subterranean formation is suitable as a hazardous waste repository.