Neclear Power?

Detective C

Unfortunately Nuclear waste can remain deadly for thousands of years so it needs to be stored in barrels within large concrete chambers deep underground, there is no safer way to dispose of it

nutail12

Once nuclear fuel is used it up, it is just sent to storage. Putting it in a certain barrel is good enough. Problem is where do we put it. People don't want to put it in their back yards.

At first they are stored in the reactor building to decay for awhile. Then they are put in containers and the stored on site. Then they take it some else where it sits. Until the federal government completes that hole in Yucca Mountains... there is no good place for permanent storage. We can recycle some of it but not much.

However, if we can prefect certain technologies, then we can recycle the used fuel. 98% can be reused in the reactor. The remaining 2% could be further reused into medical/industrial radioisotopes.

Contrary, to Bob P... Plutonium can be used in certain types of reactors called fast reactors.

Since, esp. during the 80's and 90's, there is not that much support for nuclear technologies, the hasn't been much research done. Yet, these days efforts are increasing since their is a global interest in nuclear because it is currently the best resource to meet future energy demands

richie9toes

plutonium is the radioactive waste that needs to be taken care of... thats the big problem.
http://www.etsu.edu/writing/3120f99/zctb3/nuclear2.htm

wfnelson22000

First when it comes out of a Nuclear Reactor it goes into a Spent Fuel Pool which is a deep pool of ionized water so that the Fuel Rods can cool. They stay there for 5-7 years until they can be moved to a more permanent location. Yuka Mountain in Nevada is the permanent storeage location for some of the countrys nuclear waste but it has yet to accept shipments due to politics. Due to this many plants have been forced to build their own storage facilitys in the form of huge concrete casks.

I

john313181

if a safe and suitable way can be found to store radioactive waste,then more nuclear power stations would be built and help reduce carbons and global warming,various methods have been banded about on the waste subject,and one of the best seems to be to encase all waste in a container of solid molten Glass and then covered in lead and then concrete and then stored deep within the earths crust out of harms way ,but the cost of all this goes against nuclear power at present

Bob P

Uranium, in Nuclear Fission, "decomposes" into elements of lesser atomic weight. The final "equilibrium" of nuclear fission is Iron ( this would be the result of many fission episodes).

The "life span" of a radioactive element is the time it take for the radioactivity to reduce by half. This is known as the "half life".

In "breeder" reactors, the fission is organised to produce Plutonium, which has little use except for nuclear weapons.

By and large, the only "waste" uranium is what is left in a reactor core, once the quantities fall below the "critical mass". It is then common practice to re-purify the "waste" and recycle it for further fission.

naxter12

Just trow to the trash

Good luck !!

mr idol

that's what call Du depleted uranium
they used for amour piercing bluets
eg(a-10) tank buster gun.

rngr223

We use depleted uranium in warheads

Lou

they bury it in poor areas of the Country. they probably at one time threw it into our rivers and oceans and lakes. who knows what some Government agencies and Corporations will do just to keep their pay check coming in.

eastanglianuk1951

Bury it in deep mines, if poss with granite above.
Paint LARGE Keep clear signs.
Tell wildlife not to burrow deep.
Tell earthquakes to happen elswhere for 2000 years.
All the normal stuff !

greyzone2

use it in bombs?

Mr. P

They have used it quite a lot in "tank busting" high velocity rounds.
There was talk of health risks linked to gulf war syndrome.

It is heavier than lead, and cheaper than tungsten, and has self-sharpening properties when hit/ fragmented.

- Look under "DU rounds"

J. T. Studz

neclear?

send it to China for processing!

Dr. M

we cut it in pieces the size of a set of car keys, give a piece to every american and then...."lose" it.

JJHantsch

Eventually it gets stored long-term

Bob

Dig a big hole and put it in there...then fill it up....what's the problem??

thegubmint

Right now it usually just lays around. Some reactors use reprocessed fuel, but there are ramifications with that because of the enrichment quality, it's fairly easy to divert that for non-peaceful uses. Eventually, science will figure out how to deal with spent material more effectively, but until then, it poses a hazard. Whether or not it is an acceptable hazard is up to you.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: