Radioactive
Wastes
Kathryn Cek
AP Environmental Science
High- Level Radioactive Wastes
Definition
High-Level Radioactive Waste- The highly radioactive materials that are produced as a byproduct of the reactions that occur inside nuclear reactors.
(United States Nuclear Regulatory Comission 2015)
Spent Reactor Fuels
Spent reactor fuel is the fuel that is used from a reactor, meaning that the fuel is no longer efficent in generating electricty (because its fission process has slowed).
The fuel is still hot and radioactive. This also means that it can be extremely harmful unless it is stored properly and correctly.
This storage must be safely stored at the nuclear reactor sites, since a permanent disposal repository is not built yet.
(United States Nuclear Regulatory Comission 2015)
WasTe Products
Spent reactor fuel can be reprocessed, by extracting isotopes and then it can be used again as reactor fuel.
The removal of these isotopes produces radioactive waste that cannot be used again in the reactor.
The process of reprocessing nuclear fuel is NOT practiced in the United States because it is considered to be illegal.
However, large quantities of high-level waste are produced by the defense reprocessing programs. These programs are considered legal and are regulated by the Department of Energy (DOE).
Thus, these waste byproducts need to be included in any high-level radioactive waste disposal plan.
(United States Nuclear Regulatory Comission 2015)
High-Level Radioactive Waste can be divided into two subcategories....
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Spent reactor fuel, when it can no longer be used in the plant.
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Waste materials that are still left after the spent reactor fuel is reprocessed and refined.
(United States Nuclear Regulatory Comission 2015)
High-level waste has highly radioactive fission products.
Because it is so radioactive it must be handled and stored with extremem care and caution.
(United States Nuclear Regulatory Comission 2015)
High-level waste has highly radioactive fission products.
Because it is so radioactive it must be handled and stored with extremem care and caution.
(United States Nuclear Regulatory Comission 2015)
High-level waste has highly radioactive fission products.
Because it is so radioactive it must be handled and stored with extremem care and caution.
(United States Nuclear Regulatory Comission 2015)
The only way that radioactive waste becomes harmless is through decay.
High-level wastes can take hundreds of thousands of years to fully decay and must be stored until the actually do in fact decay.
(United States Nuclear Regulatory Comission 2015)
Storage Options
Avaiable options
Most countries have agreed that high-level wastes should be stored deep underground in geological formations. This practice is the most common and frequently used.
Other options include...
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Disposal of the waste underneath and on top of the ocean floor.
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Disposal in glaciated areas.
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Extraterrestrial disposal (also known as outer space disposal where the waste is literally launched into outerspace)
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Destruction by nuclear transmutation.
(Nuclear Energy Agency n.d.)
Disposal of high-level waste on top of the ocean floor.
Underground High-level waste storage facility in Kincarde, Ontario, Canada.
Disposal & Storage Process Of High-Level Radioactive Wastes
