China has begun constructing its first underground research laboratory in the Gobi Desert, to determine the area’s suitability for future geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported. Its construction follows more than three decades of research with the support of the IAEA. Scientists will use the laboratory to characterize and assess the geological, hydrological, geochemical and engineering characteristics of the rocks at the ...