radioactive waste

Spent nuclear reactor fuel and the waste stream generated by fuel reprocessing contain radioactive materials and must be conditioned for permanent disposal. The amount of waste coming out of the nuclear fuel cycle is very small compared with the amount of waste generated…

…also yield useless and dangerous radioactive wastes that, although they are pollutants, may be less undesirable than those from fossil-fuel generators. For this and other reasons, such as economy of operation, there is a potential for an enormous electrical energy production inherent in nuclear energy-generating technologies, and, since the actinoid…

A 1,000-megawatt nuclear power reactor produces on the order of 20–25 tons of spent fuel per year. Spent fuel is initially stored for up to several decades underwater in storage pools. This allows the high-activity, short-half-life radioactivity to decay. Some…

This means that all conditioned nuclear wastes are to be deposited in mined cavities deep underground. Shafts are to be sunk into a solid rock stratum, with tunnel corridors extending horizontally from the central shaft region and tunnel “rooms” laterally from the corridors. The waste would be emplaced (by remotely…

Radioactive wastes emit ionizing energy that can harm living organisms. Because some radioactive materials can persist in the environment for many thousands of years before fully decaying, there is much concern over the control of these wastes. However, the handling and disposal of radioactive material…

…atoll remained too contaminated by nuclear waste for habitation. Coconuts are grown on the island, and there is a cold-storage facility for fish and a modern port complex. Pop. (1999) 774; (2011) 548.

A different example is provided by the disposal of radioactive waste. Here the issue is primarily safety and the perception of safety rather than economics. Waste disposal will continue to be one of the factors that inhibit the exploitation of nuclear power until…

Nuclear wastes can be classified in two groups, low-level and high-level. Low-level wastes come from nuclear power facilities, hospitals, and research institutions and include such items as contaminated clothing, wiping rags, tools, test tubes, needles, and other medical research materials. Low-level waste is packaged in…

…disposal of nuclear materials and wastes, inspects nuclear-power plants and monitors both their safety procedures and their security measures, enforces compliance with established safety standards, and investigates nuclear accidents. The NRC’s commissioners are appointed by the president of the United States.

…are required for disposal of radioactive wastes from nuclear reactors, due in part to the slow rate at which certain fission products decay. A given amount of plutonium-239, for example, still retains about one-half of its radioactivity after 25,000 years, so that reactor wastes containing this long-lived radionuclide must be…

Radioactive wastes include elements and compounds that produce or absorb ionizing radiation and any material that interacts with such elements and compounds (such as the rods and water that moderate nuclear reactions in power plants). Medical wastes are a broad category, spanning the range from…

…plant dumped large amounts of radioactive waste into the Techa River and the nearby Lake Karachay. A number of serious accidents at the plant caused the release of additional radioactive material into the environment; for example, in 1957 the explosion of a storage tank resulted in the contamination of 9,000…