Nuclear Waste By: Suhani Ray, Sunita Prasla, Sibnish Ali, Rachael Milne, Jessica Chou

introduction What exactly is nuclear (radioactive) waste? So can you just throw the waste into any trash place? 3. Electric power>>(rods) heat>>steam>>generator>>electricity 1.Nuclear radioactive waste is something that cannot be reused. It is material that the plant no longer needs so it could be put into the trash. Radioactive waste is the waste that is made from nuclear power plants. It is also produced by hospitals. 2. No you can not throw the waste into any place. They have to specially put the waste into a storage container and then into an underground tunnel so that later it will not effect the environment and turn into an explosion. This is being taken care of at the yucca mountain rite now. 3. Electric power is produced by fission made of enriched uranium rods. Fission creates heat which then creates steam. Then it drives the generator which then produces electricity. Eventually this process leaves behind nuclear waste. Suhani Ray

Suhani Ray

Radioactive waste has different levels of waste High level- “Waste from power plants that is highly radioactive is called high-level waste.” Low level- “Waste that is only slightly radioactive and gives off small amounts of radiation is called low-level waste.” Low level special sites = isolated environment Low level waste includes things such as filters, rags, and laboratory supplies. The nuclear plant gives off mostly low level waste. This level of waste is usually buried in steel drums because it has such a low level of radiation. There are special sites to where low level waste must be buried. The reason being is because it must be isolated from the environment. High level waste includes things like fuel that has been removed from the reactor. But as the fuel cools the radioactivity starts to decrease. Suhani Ray

The high level of waste is stored in this case. Suhani Ray

Generated from hospitals, laboratories, and industry 1. What sources account for the accumulation of nuclear waste? Which ones contribute the most waste? Generated from hospitals, laboratories, and industry Includes clothing, tools, rags, papers and filters Worldwide, it is 90% of volume of the waste, but is only 1% of the radioactivity. Mostly short lived radioactivity. Must be disposed of more carefully than normal garbage. Burried in shallow landfill sites. Often compacted to reduce its volume. Rachel Milne

Intermediate-level Waste Involves, chemical sludge's and reactor components, processing and enrichment plants, from nuclear weapons facilities, and from nuclear power plants ,also it is has contaminated materials from reactor decommissioning. It makes up 7% of the volume of the waste, and 4% of the radioactive of the whole Short- lived waste, if burried, but long – lived from the regenerating nuclear fuel. Solidified before burial in concrete or bitumen. (like tar black stretchy material) Disposed deep underground. Rachel Milne

High-level Waste Comes from spent fuel from nuclear reactors. It Contains the highly-radioactive fission products and also some elements with long-lived radioactivity. It is only 3% f the volume of waste, but it holds 95% of the radioactivity. Rachel Milne

2. Can nuclear waste be made safe? Nuclear waste can be made safe in a way by making it stable and no because there are solutions to it by placing the waste 500 meters below setting below the surface known as geological disposal. Another solution is  to reduce the mass of long-lived, high-level waste which means partitioning and transmutation. Nuclear waste can be made safe in a way by making it stable and no because there are solutions to it by placing the waste 500 meters below setting below the surface known as geological disposal setting such as, granite, clay, tuff, and salt formations. By doing that the goal is that wastes remain there for a few thousands of years to the point where their radioactivity level doesn't cause danger in the future. Another solution is  to reduce the mass of long-lived, high-level waste which means partitioning and transmutation. This involves isolating the transuranic elements and long-lived radionuclides in the waste and aims at transforming most of them by neutron bombardment into other non-radioactive elements or into elements with shorter half-lives. Sibnish Ali

3. What are the Short Term Solution? Currently, after a period of temporary storage when the most radioactive product have had the chance to decay high level waste from the spent nuclear fuel is incased in a borosilicate glass and sealed in stainless steel drums. The radiation emitted by the waste will slowly attack the integrity of the containers. Suhani Ray

4. Are there presently any long-term solutions to storage of nuclear waste? At the moment there are three kinds of options being considered for permanent nuclear waste storage. MOX fuel burning method (Mixed Oxide) Verification Method Subductive waste Disposal Method These are only three methods they are considering, but there could be more ways that they could find out how to dispose of the wastes easier and more efficient Rachel Milne

MOX fuel burning method (Mixed Oxide) Method in which plutonium is mixed with uranium. When plutonium burns, nuclear fission occurs. More of the plutonium is burning, which produces more energy and faster. Although it produces more plutonium, it is less dangerous in the environment. So…. The amount of plutonium is reduced, leaving the remaining, less usable for weapons and easy to dispose. The mixing of Plutonium and uranium produce a fuel that is slightly different from the fuel used fro civilian reactors. Nuclear fission is the splitting of atomic nuclei which releases large amounts of energy. Rachel Milne

Verification Method This method involves the mixing of weapons-grade plutonium and radioactive waste from civilian reactors. It is placed in borosilicate glass logs. The logs will be dug in deep boreholes. Plutonium could be efficiently encased and isolated to allow the decaying progress to occur. But it is possible for a leakage to occur, or it could be mined in the future. The glass logs would be dug deep underground and would be at least 4 kilometers wide. If a leakage occurs it could pollute water around the area that it was dug. If it was mined in the future it could be used for the production of nuclear weapons. Rachel Milne

Subductive Waste Disposal Method This method is the placement of the waste in a subducting tectonic plate. The plate reabsorbs, and along with it, the waste. It will be dispersed into the mantle. Using this method would prevent any radioactive or nuclear waste from mixing with water , stop access for the production of nuclear weapons, remove the waste from harmful positions to the environment, and be safe from any marine life in the world. It would prevent the waste from harming the environment, and it wouldn’t be in the way of anything. The most accesible place to lut it would be on the bottom of the ocean floor, wher two subducting plates meet. When the waste is placed, it would be inaccessible and would take millions of years do circulate through the earths mantle and re emerge in a chemically and physically changed from at an oceanic ridge Rachel Milne

5. Proposed solution and controversy of Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Problems: -U.S. needs a repository site for high level waste -Companies say storage areas are almost full for 100 million gallons of high-level waste (which can be dangerously radioactive for at least tens of thousands of years) at 158 storage sites in 40 states Jessica Chou

Jessica Chou

5. Proposed solution and controversy of Yucca Mountain in Nevada. -1987 Department of Energy chooses Yucca Mountain northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada -1982 Congress requires federal government to find a site for high-level nuclear waste May 16, 2006 The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project Jessica Chou

5. Proposed solution and controversy of Yucca Mountain in Nevada. -Costs a lot: $57.5 billion -Takes to long: about 30 years -Target for Terrorists: nuclear waste on the road can be targeted by terrorists - Will be full capacity: by about 2020 2001 the facility was projected to cast $57.5 billion Shipments of waste to Yucca would span over 30 years meaning 3,000-4,000 shipments per year. Transportation of waste called “Mobile Chernobyl” by media and Americans are apprehensive about nuclear waste on the road that can be targeted by terrorists If the Yucca Mountain site is used it will be full to capacity anyways by about 2020, according to nuclear industry projects shipment of mixed nuclear waste from rom a federal lab in Idaho Jessica Chou

5. Proposed solution and controversy of Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Economical objection: might slow business and tourism Scientific objection: earthquakes and volcanic eruption may occur. Water can leak into storage room - Political opposition: Lawsuits by the State of Nevada and other groups Economical objection: gambling industry doesn’t want a project that could slow business and tourism Scientific objection: earthquakes and volcanic eruption may occur near Yucca Mountain in the next 10,000 years. Water can leak into storage room and cause radioactive canisters to corrode. Political opposition: Lawsuits by the State of Nevada and other groups keep pushing back the date of the start of the Yucca Mountain plan. Date is now set at 2010 but might change Jessica Chou

6. What are the different levels of nuclear waste and what dangers does each level poses? Low Level Waste High Level Waste Sunita Prasla

Low Level Waste Low-level waste includes items that have become contaminated with radioactive material or have become radioactive through exposure to neutron radiation. The radioactivity can range from just above background levels found in nature to very highly radioactive in certain cases such as parts from inside the reactor vessel in a nuclear power plant. This waste typically consists of contaminated protective shoe covers and clothing, wiping rags, mops, filters, reactor water treatment residues, equipments and tools, luminous dials, medical tubes, swabs, injection needles, syringes, and laboratory animal carcasses and tissues. Low-level waste is typically stored on-site by licensees, either until it has decayed away and can be disposed of as ordinary trash, or until amounts are large enough for shipment to a low-level waste disposal site in containers approved by the Department of Transportation. Sunita Prasla

High Level Waste High-level radioactive wastes are the highly radioactive materials produced as a byproduct of the reactions that occur inside nuclear reactors. High-level wastes take one of two forms: -Spent (used) reactor fuel when it is accepted for disposal -Waste materials remaining after spent fuel is reprocessed Because of their highly radioactive fission products, high-level waste and spent fuel must be handled and stored with care. Since the only way radioactive waste finally becomes harmless is through decay, which for high-level wastes can take hundreds of thousands of years, the wastes must be stored and finally disposed of in a way that provides adequate protection of the public for a very long time. Sunita Prasla

7. What elements are involved in #6 and how long do they remain radioactive? Short Term Radioactive -Uranium-235, Cesium-137, Strontium-90 Long Term Radioactive -Plutonium- 239, Americium- 243 The radioactivity comes from fission fragments and their daughter products resulting from the fission of U235 in production reactors. Although radiation from short-lived fission products will decrease dramatically in the next hundred years, radiation risks associated with the long-lived products will remain high for thousands of years. In the initial decay period, most of the radioactivity is due to Cs137, Sr90, and their short-lived daughter products. Plutonium, americium, uranium, and their daughter products are the major contributors to long-term radioactivity. Sunita Prasla

8. Effects of nuclear waste on the environment 8. Effects of nuclear waste on the environment. Does it pose an immediate threat to the general public? Effect on Environment: Low level waste in concrete encased in steel drums has been dumped in the Atlantic Ocean. If drums leak liquids, fish nearby become irradiated - Metal drums of low level waste at some sites have leaked radioactive fluids into the soil and groundwater - Tens of thousands of low level waste in concrete encased in steel drums has been dumped in the Atlantic Ocean 1,300 miles southwest of England. If drums leak fish nearby become eradiated then large fish eat small fish and so on and so forth. - Metal drums of low level waste at some sites have leaked radioactive fluids into the soil and groundwater 08/26/1997 Japan's nuclear power program said it is investigating whether radioactive liquid has seeped into groundwater from the rusting drums in the concrete pits Jessica Chou

8. Effects of nuclear waste on the environment 8. Effects of nuclear waste on the environment. Does it pose an immediate threat to the general public? Immediate threat to general public? - No not an immediate threat because waste is kept secure from the public but in the future irradiated soil, groundwater, and animals may affect humans - Waste underground would protect it from being exposed to environmental factors above ground that could cause the waste to break down into radioactive particles that could be scattered by air or water. - No not an immediate threat because waste is kept secure from the public but in the future irradiated soil, groundwater, and animals may affect humans - keeping waste underground would protect from being exposed to many of environmental factors above ground that could cause the waste to break down into radioactive particles that could be scattered by air or water. Jessica Chou

9. Countries with the most Nuclear Waste 1. United States 2. Canada 3. France 4. Japan 5. United Kingdom 6. Germany 7. South Korea 8. Sweden 9. Spain 10. Belgium Storage pond for spent fuel at UK reprocessing plant Jessica Chou

9. Countries with the most Nuclear Waste Jessica Chou

9. Countries with the Most Waste Canada United Kingdom Sweden France Finland Belgium Switzerland United States Japan Germany Jessica Chou

10. Discuss what impact the nuclear age has had on civilization? It started in 1950 and there was a storage problem but United State Atoms for Peace Initiative take the residue of the fuel and dispose of it. It started in 1950 and there was a storage problem but United State Atoms for Peace Initiative take the residue of the fuel and dispose of it. Sibnish Ali

Conclusion High level = highly radioactive Low level = low radioactivity When did nuclear waste start? Fission http://gtm-media.discoveryeducation.com/videos/pmp/videos/wm/1MB/60290-HAVTC_1Mb.wmv Suhani Ray