Disposal, nuclear waste

Nuclear Waste Disposal. Nuclear waste comes from used fuel rods in nuclear power plants. Though the degree of radiation from these spent fuel rods is low, long-term exposure to low-level radiation is hazardous to human health. Disposal of these wastes has few options. The basic approach is to store them in places far from human habitat. Furthermore, it must be assured that the storage containers will not leak to the environment in any way. Leakage to underground water would be disastrous... 

Thorium, uranium, and plutonium are well known for their role as the basic fuels (or sources of fuel) for the release of nuclear energy (5). The importance of the remainder of the actinide group Hes at present, for the most part, in the realm of pure research, but a number of practical appHcations are also known (6). The actinides present a storage-life problem in nuclear waste disposal and consideration is being given to separation methods for their recovery prior to disposal (see Waste treati nt, hazardous waste Nuclear reactors, waste managet nt). 

F/uidi ed-BedIncinerator. Fluidized-bed incinerators are employed in the paper and petroleum (qv) industries, in the processing of nuclear wastes, and the disposal of sewage sludge. These are quite versatile and can be used for disposal of soflds, Hquids, and gaseous combustible wastes. 

Nuclear wastes are classified according to the level of radioactivity. Low level wastes (LLW) from reactors arise primarily from the cooling water, either because of leakage from fuel or activation of impurities by neutron absorption. Most LLW will be disposed of in near-surface faciHties at various locations around the United States. Mixed wastes are those having both a ha2ardous and a radioactive component. Transuranic (TRU) waste containing plutonium comes from chemical processes related to nuclear weapons production. These are to be placed in underground salt deposits in New Mexico (see... 

Funding for developing commercial waste disposal faciUties is to come from the waste generators. In the case of spent fuel disposal, a Nuclear Waste Fund is accumulating based on an assessment of one mill per kilowatt-hour of electricity. For low level wastes, surcharges on waste disposal and direct assessments of utiUties have been imposed. 

N. A. Chapman and I. G. McKinley, The Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Chichester, U.K., 1987. 

In 1980, Congress deterrnined that each state should be responsible for ensuring the proper handling and disposal of commercial low level nuclear wastes generated in their states. Regional disposal sites have also been estabHshed at BamweU, South Carolina, and Ward Valley, California. These wastes are handled by Hcensed disposal faciHties where they are packaged, placed in burial trenches, and covered with soil. Less than half of the low level nuclear waste produced annually in the United States comes from nuclear power plants. Low level nuclear power plant wastes include contaminated equipment. 

Environmental Protection Agency - has sponsored work on the risk of chemical manufacture and transportation, the risk of reprocessing nuclear fuel, and the risk of nuclear waste disposal. 

Fluidized-bed process incinerators have been used mostly in the petroleum and paper industries, and for processing nuclear wastes, spent cook liquor, wood chips, and sewage sludge disposal. Wastes in any physical state can be applied to a fluidized-bed process incinerator. Au.xiliary equipment includes a fuel burner system, an air supply system, and feed systems for liquid and solid wastes. The two basic bed design modes, bubbling bed and circulating bed, are distinguished by the e.xtent to which solids are entrained from the bed into the gas stream. 

The fear of accidents like Chernobyl, and the high cost of nuclear waste disposal, halted nuclear power plant construction in the United States m the 1980s, and in most ol the rest ol the world by the 1990s. Because nuclear fusion does not present the waste disposal problem of fission reactors, there is hope that fusion will be the primary energy source late in the twenty-first centuiy as the supplies of natural gas and petroleum dwindle. 

Usually atoms resulting from nuclear fission arc radioactive. There are also radioactive atoms produced from neutron capture by both U and U. Both types of radioactive atoms remain in the nuclear fuel. It is these radioactive atoms that comprise the nuclear wastes that require disposal in an environmentally acceptable manner. 

The main drawback to nuclear power is the production of radioactive waste. Spent fuel from a nuclear reactor is considered a high-level radioactive waste, and remains radioactive for a veiy long time. Spent fuel consists of fission products from the U-235 and Pu-239 fission process, and also from unspent U-238, Pu-240, and other heavy metals produced during the fuel cycle. That is why special programs exist for the handling and disposal of nuclear waste. 

Finally, a book has recently been published covering corrosion problems related to nuclear waste disposal" . It discusses a variety of subjects including corrosion behaviour and SCC of copper, carbon steels and high alloy steels under conditions related to nuclear waste disposal. Special attention is paid to pitting and problems associated with hydrogen gas generation from corrosion processes. 

Corrosion problems related to nuclear waste disposal . The Institute of Materials, London, (1992)... 

Chemistry is the key to the safe use of nuclear power. It is used in the preparation of the fuel itself, the recovery of important fission products, and the safe disposal or utilization of nuclear waste. 

FIGURE 17.30 This 35-year-old drum of radioactive waste has corroded and leaked radioactive materials into the soil. The drum was located in one of the nuclear waste disposal sites at the U.S. Department of Energy s Hanford, Washington, nuclear manufacturing and research facility. Several storage sites at this facility have become seriously contaminated. 

Bernard Manowitz, Treatment and Disposal of Wastes in Nuclear Chemical Technology George A. Sofer and Harold C. Weingartner, High Vacuum Technology Theodore Vermeulen, Separation by Adsorption Methods Sherman S. Weidenbaum, Mixing of Solids... 

Nuclear waste disposal is a major problem for society. The waste is very difficult to properly dispose of because —... 

Farallon Islands Nuclear Waste Disposal Site (FINWDS) and Point Arena (reference site), 1986-1987... 

Bates JK, Bradley JP, Teetsov A, et al. 1992. Colloid formation during waste form reaction Implications for nuclear waste disposal. Science 256 649-651. 

Hermetic waste / from the writings of Paracelsus, 1493-1541, from the writings of Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179, from a fact sheet on the disposal of nuclear waste. London Gefn Press, 1986. [16] leaves... 

The political problems with profound economic impact could include, for example, the significance of the continuing worldwide growth of nuclear power, with such issues as the use of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and Plutonium obtained from tire dismantling of U.S. and former USSR nuclear weapons the urgency of nonproliferation the disposal of civilian and military nuclear waste nuclear power alternatives. 

Technology exists to dispose of nuclear waste safely. 

The result of this effort was an ATW roadmap released by DOE just this week. It concluded that ATW would require a six-year, 281 million R D effort for open technical issues. ATW could complement geologic disposal, and any decision to pursue ATW would follow evaluation of technical, costs, and nonproliferation issues. Whether or not this effort leads to any ATW international collaboration, we are eager to expand international collaboration on nuclear waste issues in general. 

I have just returned from an International Conference on Geologic Repositories hosted by Secretary Richardson. The joint declaration from this conference committed to continued international cooperation on waste issues and the viability of geologic repositories as one of the preferred options for disposal of nuclear waste. 

Mr. Thomas s vision is sound, except that the problem is not inability, but unwillingness to manage and dispose of wastes from commercial nuclear power plants and recycle valuable materials. 

To emphasize the difference in scale, the different classes of problems are here classified as confined problems and open-ended problems. Confined problems are those where the probability and magnitude of the risks can be quantitatively studied and are found to be limited in scope. Reactor safety and nuclear waste disposal are in this category. 

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