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Unfortunately for humankind, the answer is, as yet, not known.
Ashlee Farrell
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoYou don't, once it is created it exists forever (or close to forever depending on the amount of radioactive material involved). There is a process called the "half life', some isotopes degrade rapidly, others last for thousand of years. All you can do is isolate it, entomb it, and hope that it remains undistrubed for the next zillion years, just like the pharohs thought when they were entombed. The nuclear wastes cannot enter any underground river or water supply, since it would carry it elsewhere.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoThere is no way to safely dispose of nuclear waste, but it is put underground to erode by thousands of years. Mount Yucca is somewhere the United States is planning to put their nuclear waste in. Underground, it cannot do much harm.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoThis is an open question, there is no agreed route at present in the US so it is being stored on the power station sites. In some other countries the spent fuel is taken to a central place for processing, and waste arising is stored there, but I don't think any country has decided on a final repository yet.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoIf they would bother to, much of it can be recycled as new fuel. This can be done with Uranium and all of the long lived Transuranics that are the biggest problem in disposal.
Many of the fission products and neutron irradiated structural material in the fuel rods have medical or industrial uses and could also be recycled.
The remainder (actually a small amount) can be stored in facilities that only need to be able to protect them for a few hundred years. (not thousands or millions)
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoThe Radioactive Waste Management helps in the disposal of the nuclear waste. The nuclear power optimizer helps in the disposal of the nuclear waste by making use of the modern technology.
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoMost radioactive waste is sealed in special containers, and buried underground. Medical waste that may be radioactive is taken to landfills.
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Is the use of high level radioactive waste from nuclear power station for the production of the raw materials for nuclear weapons a justifiable proposition?
High level radioactive waste would have no potential for producing a nuclear explosion, so your question is puzzling. Perhaps you mean production of a dirty bomb, which terrorists might use to contaminate an area by spreading radioactive material around using a conventional explosive. That is obviously not justified unless you are a terrorist.Plutonium can be extracted from spent uranium fuel and used in nuclear weapons, but I would not describe it as high level radioactive waste, plutonium is only mildly radioactive.In fact I think at present in the US and in Russia, the stockpile of nuclear weapons is being reduced and some of the fissile material is going into civil nuclear reactor fuel.
How do you dispose of medium level nuclear waste?
The problem is two fold here. The waste from nuclear sites is plentiful only because of foolish guidelines. For example water leaving a power plant can not have as much background radiation as it does when entering in some cases. High level waste we all agree is an issue. Low level waste is not an ssue, but there is this grey area of medium level waste. The simplest method would be to put this waste into barrels and bury it in New Mexico or other solid areas. One interesting method that I was presented with by a passenger on a recent flight was this. We do not actually make radioactive material, we concentrate it. If we take three toms of dirt out of a half ounce of radioactive material, why not mix the material back into the stuff and fill the mine back up with it? No new amounts of radioactive material would be added to the area and the concentrations would be the same! How does one argue this?
How nuclear waste destroy environment?
We don't normally allow this to happen, the nuclear waste is tightly controlled. But after a disaster as at Chernobyl, the surrounding area is contaminated with radioactive fall out, so crops grown there or animals grazed there would also be affected.
Does nuclear waste glow green?
No- but it looks good in the comics. Most radioactive waste does not glow in ANY color. Very high level radioactive may exhibit Cherenkov radiation effects, and glow blue or purple.
What are radioactive waste disposal methods?
the methods of radioactive waste disposal varies by the waste form (solid, liquid. gaseous) and the radioactivity level (low, intermediate, high). Primarily; three methods are applied:delay and decay: to maintain waste in tanks for some periods of time to allow decay of radioactivity and then to be disposed of to environment.dilute and disperse: to dispose to environment (through dilution and dispersion, incineration) as ocean, sea, atmosphere, etc.contain and concentrate: This is used mainly for high level radioactive waste as spent fuel or the spent fuel reprocessing products; either in wet storage, dry storage, or vitrifies waste
What type of nuclear waste can cause cancer?
high-level
Where is most of the high level waste from nuclear reactors stored?
ocean
Does nuclear energy give off carbon dioxide?
No it does not however the fission material has to be mined from the ground and enriched then when it has been used alot of useless high level and/or low level radioactive waste is produced which is extremly difficult to dispose of.
How can the disposal of high-level nuclear waste be a problem?
It's highly radioactive.
Which is a characteristic of surface high-level nuclear waste storage that is not a characteristic of storing the waste in a geological repository?
easily recovered
Most of the high-level hazardous radiation associated with nuclear energy is the result of?
Waste materials, mining and transportation of radioactive fuels, radiation emissions from nuclear sites.
What is a high level waste?
High Level Waste is waste that is considered dangerous or harmful and is of importance when disposing of carefully
What are the different types of radioactive waste?
In the U.S., radioactive waste is divided into three main types, classified according to their activity, their heat generation potential, and what they physically contain. These three main levels are low level waste (LLW), transuranic waste (TRU), and high level waste (HLW). For each of these types of waste, there is a specific disposal solution -- above ground storage or shallow burial for low level waste and deep repository storage for transuranic and high level wastes. In most other countries, nuclear waste is categorized as low level waste, intermediate level waste, and high level waste. The reason for this different classification system is that in the U.S. waste is classified based on where it comes from; in most other countries, waste is classified according to what the effects of the waste might be. In both classifications, low level waste represents about 90% of all radioactive waste
Is the use of high level radioactive waste from nuclear power station for the production of the raw materials for nuclear weapons a justifiable proposition?
High level radioactive waste would have no potential for producing a nuclear explosion, so your question is puzzling. Perhaps you mean production of a dirty bomb, which terrorists might use to contaminate an area by spreading radioactive material around using a conventional explosive. That is obviously not justified unless you are a terrorist.Plutonium can be extracted from spent uranium fuel and used in nuclear weapons, but I would not describe it as high level radioactive waste, plutonium is only mildly radioactive.In fact I think at present in the US and in Russia, the stockpile of nuclear weapons is being reduced and some of the fissile material is going into civil nuclear reactor fuel.
How is the largest amount of nuclear waste categorized?
They are categorized according to:Physical form (solid, liquid, or gaseous)radioactivity level (high, intermediate, low)
What has the author W F Bonner written?
W. F Bonner has written: 'The high-level waste immobilization program' -- subject(s): Waste disposal, Radioactive waste disposal, Reactor fuel reprocessing, Nuclear facilities
How do you dispose of medium level nuclear waste?
The problem is two fold here. The waste from nuclear sites is plentiful only because of foolish guidelines. For example water leaving a power plant can not have as much background radiation as it does when entering in some cases. High level waste we all agree is an issue. Low level waste is not an ssue, but there is this grey area of medium level waste. The simplest method would be to put this waste into barrels and bury it in New Mexico or other solid areas. One interesting method that I was presented with by a passenger on a recent flight was this. We do not actually make radioactive material, we concentrate it. If we take three toms of dirt out of a half ounce of radioactive material, why not mix the material back into the stuff and fill the mine back up with it? No new amounts of radioactive material would be added to the area and the concentrations would be the same! How does one argue this?
