4. Nuclear Waste…Why?Nuclear Waste…Why?
•Recently nuclear power has entered many discussions
as world energy needs rise and oil reserves diminish.
•Most opponents of nuclear power point to two main
arguments: meltdowns and nuclear waste.
•Nuclear waste is any form of byproduct or end product
that releases radioactivity.
•How to safely dispose of nuclear waste is pivotal for the
continued operation of nuclear power plants, safety of
people living around dump sites, and prevention of
proliferation of nuclear materials to non-nuclear states
5. Nuclear Fuel cycle
Most nuclear waste comes from the byproducts of the nuclear fuel cycle.
The cycle typically is split into three sections: front end, service period,
and back end. There can be intermediate stages that include the
reprocessing of nuclear waste elements.
11. We will discuss -
• Low Level Radioactive Waste
• High Level Radioactive Waste
• Transuranic Waste
12. CLASSIFICATIONS
• Nuclear waste is segregated into several
classifications.
• Low level waste is not dangerous but
sometimes requires shielding during handling.
• Intermediate level waste typically is chemical
sludge and other products from reactors.
• High level waste consists of fissionable
elements from reactor cores and transuranic
wastes.
• Transuranic waste is any waste with
transuranic alpha emitting radio nuclides that
have half-lives longer than 20 years.
13.
14. LOW LEVEL WASTE(LLW)
• Low level waste is any
waste that could be from
a high activity area.
• 90% volume of waste
• It does not necessarily
carry any radioactivity.
• Split into four categories :
A, B, C, and GTCC.
15. INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
WASTE(ILW)
• Intermediate level waste
requires shielding when being
handled.
• 7% volume of waste
• Dependent on the amount of
activity it can be buried in
shallow repositories.
• Not recognized in the United
States.
16. HIGH LEVEL
WASTE(HLW)
• High level waste has a large
amount of radioactive activity and
is thermally hot.
• 3% volume of waste
• 95% of radioactivity
• Current levels of HLW are
increasing about 12,000 metric tons
per year.
• Most HLW consists of Pu-238, 239,
240, 241, 242, Np-237, U-236
17. TRANSURANIC
WASTE(TRUW)
• Transuranic waste consists of all waste that has
radionuclides above uranium.
• TRUWs typically have longer half-lives than other forms
of waste.
• Typically a byproduct of weapons manufacturing.
• Only recognized in the United States.
18. SOURCES OF NUCLEAR
WASTE
•Nuclear waste is generated at all points of the fuel
cycle.
•Front end waste consists primarily of low level alpha
emission waste.
•Service period waste typically includes LLW and ILW
such as contaminated reactor housings and waste
from daily operation.
•Back end waste normally is the most radioactive and
includes spent fuel rods and reactor cores.
19. FRONT END WASTE
• Front end waste consists mostly of LLW and ILW.
• The primary front end waste is depleted uranium and
radium.
• DU has several uses due to its high density (19,050 kg/m3
).
• Mix with uranium to form reactor fuel
20. SERVICE PERIOD
WASTE
• Consists of mostly ILW.
• Mostly waste produced at the plant during normal
operation.
• Spent fuel rods are the most dangerous waste produced
during the service period.
21. BACK END WASTE
• Nuclear waste developed
during the back end of the
fuel cycle is the most
dangerous and includes
most of the HLW produced.
• Most back end waste emits
both gamma and beta
particles.
• Also uranium-234,
neptunium-237,
plutonium-238 and
americium-241are found in
back end waste.
Spent nuclear fuel in a cooling pond in North
Korea.
22. LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Low Level Radioactive waste consists of micro curie, milli-
curie and at times curie activity waste.
(A Curie is a unit of nuclear transformations. 1 Curie is 3.7
x1010
transformations per second)
24. WASTE MANAGEMENT (LLW)
• There are
several options
available for the
disposal of LLW
due to its lack of
radioactivity.
• Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant
• On-site disposal
Map of WIPP Facility
25. • Low level radioactive liquids are either:
• Incinerated
• Deep well injected (not as frequent anymore)
• Solidified
• Sewer Disposed (Regulations allow curie levels of some
isotopes to be sewer disposed of if dilution is large
enough)
• Radioactive animal carcasses are either incinerated or
buried onsite.
26. • Small sealed sources
are “Stabilized” in
concrete and buried.
Stabilized concrete is
concrete that is
certified to resist
wear for a certain
time period.
27. • Low level
contaminated
solid wastes are
buried. GSU has
it’s solid waste
“Supercompacte
d” at 30,000 psi
to reduce the
volume to be
buried
28. MOST LOW LEVEL WASTES COME FROM
GOVERNMENT AND UTILITIES. THESE CONSIST
OF CONTAMINATED SOLIDS FROM NUCLEAR
REACTOR USAGE AND WEAPON
CONSTRUCTION.
• Colleges, research and medical applications account for less than 25% of the
low level Radioactive wastes created
29.
30. • There are 3 LLRW
Burial sites:
• Hanford
• Envirocare
• Barnwell
35. NIMBY: NOT IN MY BACK YARD
• Fear of radiation because they don’t understand it
• Concern that the waste facility will
release long-term contamination
• Worry that property values will be reduced
with construction of a waste facility
• Belief that power companies are the ones
responsible for storing their own waste
• People don’t want dumped on by other
peoples’ waste
• Belief that nuclear power should just go
away and be replaced by other energy
resources
• Environmental concerns
39. • Most common utilized
option are reactor pools
and dry cask storage.
• Other Options for waste
management include:
• Deep Geologoical Storage
• Transmutation
• Reuse
• Launching it into space
Locations of storage sites for nuclear
waste in the U.S.
40. • High-Level Radioactive Waste is:
the irradiated fuel from the cores
of nuclear reactors, the liquid and
sludge wastes that are left over
after irradiated fuel has been
reprocessed (a procedure used to
extract uranium and plutonium),
the solid that would result from
efforts to solidify that liquid and
sludge from reprocessing.
41. Because there is currently
no high level radioactive
waste disposal facility,
HLRW is held On-Site in
water pools
42. Once these Pools
are full, Waste
is transferred to
casks which are
also held on-site
43.
44. A HLRW repository is
being constructed at
Yucca Mountain in
Nevada to hold all this
waste. NIMBY again is
playing a role in the
opening
49. • Most common initial treatment of waste is vitrification.
• Waste is first mixed with sugar and then passed
through a heated tube to de-nitrite the material.
• This material is then fed into a furnace and mixed with
glass.
• The molten glass mixture is poured into steel cylinders
and welded shut.
50. • Mid level active waste is commonly treated with ion
exchange
• Process reduces the bulk volume of radioactive material.
• Typically, mixed with concrete for a solid storage form.
51. • Most common method for
handling nuclear waste.
• Typically kept separate
from actual plants and
buried far below ground.
• First used in 1999 in the US.
• Current research is focusing
on Yucca Mountain.
Yucca Mountain Site
52. • Reduces transuranic waste.
• Integral Fast Reactor
• Banned 1977-1981 (U.S.)
• MOX Fuel
• Behaves as low-enriched uranium
• Research now in subcritical reactors.
• Fusion also being researched.
53. • Research is being performed to find uses for nuclear
waste.
• Caesium-137 and strontium-90 already used in industrial
applications.
• Some waste can be used for radioisotope thermoelectric
generators (RTGs).
• Overall can reduce total HLW but not eliminate it.
54. LAUNCH IT INTO SPACE
• Near infinite storage
space
• Completely removes
waste from biosphere
• Technical risks and
problems
• Political entanglements
55. For more information, http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ymp/index.shtml
Yucca Mountain
• Technically sound
• 1,000’ below ground
• Repository in block
of solid rock
• 1,000’ above water
table
• Remote location on
Nevada Test Range
It is better to have used nuclear fuel in one location
58. WASTE
ISOLATION
PILOT PLANT
• Opened March 26, 1999
• Storage of transuranic
waste leftover from
research an production of
nuclear weapons
• http://www.wipp.energy.gov/
• http://www.radiochemistry.org/wipp_tour/index.html
59. PRIVATE FUEL STORAGE
(SKULL VALLEY, UTAH)
• Temporary storage of
spent nuclear fuel until
Yucca Mountain is
operational
• Goshute Indian Skull
Valley Band
• 3-ft thick concrete storage
pads
http://www.privatefuelstorage.com/
http://www.kued.org/skullvalley/
60.
61. MAYAPURI………
Mayapuri scrap
market is a well
known area of Delhi.
There are around
200 scrap shops in
the market. This area
came into limelight
when a radiation
incident which makes
five people seriously
injured came in to
existence.
62. WHAT IS COBALT – 60?
Cobalt-60 (60Co) is a radioactive isotope of cobalt. Due to its short half life
of 5.27 years 60Co is not found in nature. It is produced artificially by
neutron activation of 59Co. 60Co decays by negative beta decay to the
stable isotope nickel-60 (60Ni). ...
63. FROM WHERE DID IT COME??
A gamma irradiator no longer in use since 1985 in a
chemistry laboratory at Delhi University was auctioned
in a scrap market of Mayapuri in February
2010.The orphan source was sent to one of the
many scrap yards existing at Mayapuri and dismantled
by workers. During the demolishing operations to
recover metal scraps, the lead shielding protecting the
radioactive source was removed and the source itself
damaged. And the Cobalt – 6o leaked into the
environment.
64. • Deepak Jain a scarp dealer merchant purchased some
scarp from the City Hospital which is covered in a plastic
sheet when Deepak removed this sheet radiation begins to
start, Deepak was not aware of this he got serious burn
injuries and black marks on the skin, He was taken to
the Apollo Hospital which informed the government that
he had suffered radiation as told by officials. Four other
workers in his factory also came in the range of this
harmful radiation and got the burn injuries.
65.
66. • HLW is most dangerous
byproduct of nuclear
power.
• Borosilicate glass most
common storage.
• Several venues being
researched for the safe
disposal of HLW.
