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The pneumatic capsule pipeline transportation is a method to transport various materials by utilizing differential pneumatic pressure. It has advantages over conventional methods (e.g., vertical transport using a lift in a shaft) in terms of safety and economical efficiency when it is applied to the deep radioactive waste disposal facilities (Hane, et al., 2002). In this paper, focusing attention on the safety and efficiency of transportation, we propose a concept of the comprehensive transportation system for the high-level radioactive wastes disposal facilities. By introducing a curved pipe section to the pipeline system, we show the applicability and practicability of the system for the facility by analytical study.

A wireless transmission technology uses a low frequency electromagnetic wave (100[Hz] ~ 10[kHz]) as a carrier wave to transmit signals in the deep underground geological condition. However, this electromagnetic wave has not been used so much, because the transmission capacity is less than a high frequency electromagnetic wave, which is used to televisions and cellular phones. On the other hand, the wireless transmission technology that doesn't use the cable is considered to be useful in the radioactive waste disposal repository from the viewpoint of decreasing the influence on the barrier. This paper shows the characteristics of the wireless transmission in the granite on the basis of the in situ testing implemented in the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory of SKB.

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The development of the wireless transmission monitoring in the geological disposal repository, the underground laboratories, the test facilities and the demonstration area, will present an opportunity to provide greater flexibility and robustness to the confirmation of the barrier performance and therefore safety of repository [1]. So as to realize the wireless transmission monitoring especially in the betonite barrier, RWMC has been researching and developing the wireless data transmission system which uses the very low frequency (VLF: around 1 kHz) electromagnetic wave. In this system, transmitting and receiving is conducted through loop coil antennas. The overall transmission system is digitized and maximum 19 sensors can be connected to one transmitter. Transmission distance can be selected from several meters to several hundred meters.This paper firstly presents the behavior of VLF electromagnetic wave propagation in the rock mass and the underground facility revealed by the in-situ transmission experiment and the analytical method evaluating the behavior of the VLF electromagnetic field in various environments. Development results of the transmitting antenna and the improvement of the transmission performance are secondly shown. The technical feasibility and the future R&D plan of the wireless monitoring in the repository are also explained.