Long-lived radioactive wastes

Even when operated safely, nuclear power plants produce long-lived radioactive wastes, which must be sequestered from the biosphere until their radioactivity diminishes to acceptable levels. Plutonium-239, formed in... 

Thorium produces 10 to 10 000 times less long-lived radioactive waste than uranium or plutonium reactors. 

Law of 30 December 1991 - High level and long lived radioactive waste/research and results Separation and transmutation of long-lived radionuclides. Report Direction 1. Final report. December 2005. CEA/DEN/DDIN/2005-568. 

Camarcat, N., Bernard, P., Sicard, B. 1998. The 1991 long-lived radioactive waste management law. NUCEF 98 Symposium Working Group, November, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan. 

Fast neutron reactors with a closed fuel cycle to achieve a durable production of electricity while minimising needs of uranium and the burden of long-lived radioactive waste. 

The fast-spectrum reactors with full recycle of actinides would be designed with on-site spent fuel reprocessing and fuel fabrication to minimize the on-site inventory of long-lived radioactive waste. Modern robotic equipment can be used for reactor refueling and for fuel reprocessing. The spent fuel reprocessing and fuel fabrication facilities must be developed to close the nuclear fuel cycle and use all the energy available in natural uranium. 

An advantage of fission-product Mo is the high specific activity of Mo (> 10 Ci/g Mo). Disadvantages are the (1) elaborate and expensive post-irradiation processing facilities, (2) chemical separation of the highly-toxic a-emitters (transuranic radionuclides) and pure yff-emitters, (3) special problems of quality control, and (4) large quantities of long-lived radioactive waste. 

After 10 years of decay there is still appreciable radioactivity remaining, so irradiated cladding must be treated as a long-lived radioactive waste. The only species that persist after about 1000 years of decay are 1.5 X 10 year Zr and 2.12 X 10 year Tc. The activity of Zr in irradiated cladding is about the same as the activity of fission-product Zr (cf. Table 8.1), but the activity of Tc in cladding is about 1000 times less than the activity of fission-product Tc. 

The high level of self-protection of reactors considered makes expedient their use for nuclear transmuting NP long-lived radioactive waste. 

The French fast reactor prototype Phenix, located at Marcoule in the Card department, was put into commercial operation in 1974. The total time of power operation of the plant is approximately 100 000 hours. The initial objective of Fast Breeder Reactor demonstration has been achieved. Since the mid-nineties, the role of the reactor as an irradiation facility has been enqjhasized, particularly in support of the CEA s transmutation R D programme in the context of the 30 December 1991 French law on long-lived radioactive waste management. This new objective has required the extension of the planned reactor lifetime. A renovation programme was defined based on ... 

From 1992, the role of Phenix as an irradiation facility has been emphasized, particularly in support of the CEA R D programme in the context of line 1 of the December 30th 1991 law on long-lived radioactive waste management. The first experiment, called SUPERFACT, led to the incineration of minor actinides (neptunium and americium). This programme was further strengthened in 1997, to compensate for the shutdown of Superphenix. It involves transmutation of Minor Actinides and Long-Lived Fission Products. 

AR146 Natural analogues in performance assessments for the disposal of long-lived radioactive wastes. 

In the reactor transmutation studies on long-lived radioactive waste, nuclear data for MA nuclides and fission products are of primary importance. However, nuclear data for many MA nuclides are still not known to the desired accuracy. Accurate experimental data of neutron cross section for MA are indispensable to establish MA transmutation technology by reactors. Accurate neutron cross section data of RE nuclides become necessary for designing the MA burning core. The data, however, are quite inadequate both in quality and in quantity. 

Following the NAS recommendation for disposal of long-lived radioactive wastes in geologic formations (NAS-National Research Council, 1957), the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) sponsored several years of research (1957-1961) at the Oak Ridge... 

For spent fuel processing, two main approaches can be considered conditioning for disposal, and reprocessing. Both processes produce long lived radioactive wastes that need to be disposed of in deep geological repositories. The main differences between them are the type and the final volume of waste to be disposed. 

CEC, European Catalogue of geological formations having suitable characteristics for the disposal of solidified high-level and/or long-lived radioactive waste, CEC Report EUR 6891 EN, Luxembourg (1980). 

Radioactive Waste Management Committee, "The Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal of Long-Lived Radioactive Wastes - Collective Opinion", OECD/Nuclear Energy Agency (1995). 

Managing high-level and long lived radioactive waste - that is indeed the heart of the problem of waste management of the nuclear fuel cycle. Without solving this problem - to store, condition and dispose of high-level radioactive waste in a safe, secure and economically feasible maimer -1 doubt that nuclear power reactors can continue to be operated and considered as an environmentally favourable source of electricity generation. 

OECD/NEA Environmental and Ethical Aspects of Long-lived Radioactive Waste Disposal,... 

Geological disposal has emerged as the method that is currently regarded as the most viable concept for the management of long-lived radioactive waste. The approach is defined by the IAEA as "the emplacement of waste in a facility constructed in a deep geological formation... 

The different views on the subject were express l at an international woiitshop on tihe environmental and ethical aspects of long-lived radioactive waste disposal in 1994 [12]. The extensive discussions held at this workshop show that final conclusions will have to be based on scientific/ technical and especially ethical grounds. The workshop provided an in ortant base for the Collective Opinion of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency on "The Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal" [2]. 

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT/NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY (OECD/NEA), Environmental and ethical aspects of long-lived radioactive waste disposal Proceedings of an international workshop, Paris (1995). 

I call your attention again to the fact that the recent NEA/OECD Collective Opinion on Environmental and Ethical Aspects of Long Lived Radioactive Waste Disposal said not a word about intragenerational equity. All of us want to be treated fairly. So why would members of the public accept the pronouncements of these members of a technological elite ... 

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