Nuclear power waste disposal

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. 

A leader in applying PSA to other parts of the chemical process industry has been the AlChf. s Center for Chemical Process Safety. A major difference between PSA for nuclear power and PSA for chemical processing has been the lack of government regulations that require risk analysis for chemical processes. A primary impetuous has been the Occupational Safety and Health Administration s (OSHA) PSM rule that defines the application of PSA to the chemical industry for ihc proteciion of the public and workers. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agcrii, . (EPA) regulates waste disposal. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

No issue is more critical to the future of nuclear power in the US. than solving the problem of waste disposal. 

To fill this gap, we will need to increase our nuclear energy R D to cover the complete spectrum of research needs. . . from power generation. .. to non-proliferation. .. to waste disposal. The Department s Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee - NER4C - is currently working on an analysis of nuclear R D needs. We hope that this effort will further inform and focus our nuclear energy R D needs and help us fill our portfolio gaps. 

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. 

Nuclear waste disposal. The resolution of the socio-political issue of nuclear waste disposal, necessary for the-development of nuclear power, may appear more difficult than it is from the purely scientific or engineering viewpoint. However, this issue should be resolved not only for future plants, but also for existing plants which are operating now. 

Nuclear explosions and nuclear power production are the major sources of anthropogenic activity in the environment. But radionuclide use in medicine, industry, agriculture, education, and production and transport, use, and disposal from these activities present opportunities for wastes to enter the environment (Whicker and Schultz 1982a Table 32.6). Radiation was used as early as... 

Clean options include nuclear power to produce hydrogen with no emissions. But expanding nuclear power means overcoming safety, waste disposal and security concerns. 

Countries in the Middle East and Russia hold 70% of the world s dwindling reserves of oil and gas. Coal is the most abundant and widely distributed fossil fuel. Global natural gas reserves are large and currently yield a reserve/production ratio of 50 to 60 years. Nuclear power s share of worldwide electricity supplies has been steady at 16-17% for many years, but reactor safety and waste disposal problems are still matters of concern. 

Now that the first generation of nuclear power plants is well established, more attention is being focussed on the R D required to ensure that nuclear power can continue to contribute to the energy supply for the foreseeable future. Two areas which are interdisciplinary but involve a large chemical input are waste disposal and fuel recycle. 

Sediments in the Mississippi River were accidentally contaminated with a low-level radioactive waste material that leaked from a nuclear power plant on the river. Pore water concentrations of radioactive compounds were measured following the spill and found to be 10 g/m over a 2-mm depth. The water contamination was 30% radioactive cesium ( Cs), with a half-life of 30 years, and 70% radioactive cobalt ( °Co), with a half-life of 6 years. Objections by the local residents are preventing clean-up efforts because some professor at the local state university convinced them that dredging the sediments and placing them in a disposal facility downstream would expose the residents to still more radioactivity. The state has decided that the sediments should be capped with 10 cm of clay and needs a quick estimate of the diffusion of radioactive material through the clay cap (Figure E2.8.1). If the drinking water limit (10 g/m ) is reached at mid-depth in the cap, the state will increase its thickness. Will this occur ... 

---