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Nuclear Waste

Nuclear Waste. What is Nuclear Waste? . Waste that results from the use of radioactive materials Nuclear energy Nuclear weapons Hospitals, Universities, & Research labs Industry Mining and Milling of Uranium Ore. Radioactive Waste. Spent Fuel Rods Irradiated elements from reactors

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Nuclear Waste

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  1. Nuclear Waste

  2. What is Nuclear Waste? Waste that results from the use of radioactive materials • Nuclear energy • Nuclear weapons • Hospitals, Universities, & Research labs • Industry • Mining and Milling of Uranium Ore

  3. Radioactive Waste • Spent Fuel Rods • Irradiated elements from reactors • Radioactive coolant, gases, rods

  4. Storing Spent Radioactive Fuel Rods Presents Risks • Rods must be replaced every 3-4 years • Cooled in water-filled pools • Placed in dry casks • Must be stored for thousands of years • Vulnerable to terrorist attack

  5. Dealing with Spent Fuel Rods Fig. 15-24, p. 390

  6. Radioactive Waste Low Level High Level Initially emit large amounts of radiation Reactor equipment, fuel rods Extremely toxic, continue to produce heat Remain radioactive for thousands of years Must be converted from liquid to solid for disposal Must be stored 10,000 – 240,000 years 10 years after removal from reactor still emitting enough radiation to kill a person 1m away in 3 minutes • Emit small amounts of radiation • Several States (SC, UT, WA) accept these products • 1980: low level radioactive policy act put disposal responsibility on states • Must be stored 100 – 500 years • Previously drummed & dumped in ocean

  7. How & where do we store high level radioactive waste? • Isolated areas • Geologically stable • NOT near water Currently, generator facilities store these materials onsite! YIKES!

  8. Possible Locations Discussed Include: • Underground rock formations – YUCCA Mtn. • Mausoleums in remote locations – above ground vaults • Antarctic Ice Sheets – Unstable, melting, movement • Ocean Seabeds in ocean ridges – threat of escape to environment • Space – Cost prohibitive

  9. Yucca Mountain • 1987 – DOE – Proposed storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mtn. • 160km (100 miles) NW of Las Vegas • Waste stored below ground in steel casks lined with lead

  10. Yucca Mountain • 2002 – Bush admin. & congress approved construction • Critics – Location chosen as a political not scientific decision

  11. Yucca Mountain • 2008 DOE submitted license for construction to NRC which is still being reviewed • NO DATE on Construction completion or opening • Expensive: Total cost projected >$96 billion

  12. Yucca Mountain * • All high level material will be transported (trucks, convoys, rail) • 1 to 6 shipments each day for 24 years to transport all currently existing material • SAFETY CONCERNS

  13. Radioactive Decay Radioactive materials become less radioactive over time The decay process releases radiation Release is NOT constant

  14. Half - Life Measurement of time it takes for one-half of a radioactive isotope sample to decay into another isotope

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