NucularWaste

ATechnicalAnalysis

IanBaird
5/12/08

 NuclearWasteWhy?
Recentlynuclearpowerhasenteredmanydiscussionsasworld
energyneedsriseandoilreservesdiminish.
Mostopponentsofnuclearpowerpointtotwomainarguments:
meltdownsandnuclearwaste.
Nuclearwasteisanyformofbyproductorendproductthat
releasesradioactivity.
Howtosafelydisposeofnuclearwasteispivotalforthe
continuedoperationofnuclearpowerplants,safetyofpeople
livingarounddumpsites,andpreventionofproliferationof
nuclearmaterialstononnuclearstates.

 NuclearFuelCycle
Mostnuclearwastecomesfromthebyproductsofthenuclear
fuelcycle.Thecycletypicallyissplitintothreesections:
frontend,serviceperiod,andbackend.Therecanbe
intermediatestagesthatincludethereprocessingofnuclear
wasteelements.

NuclearFuelCycle(Cont.)

 Classifications
Nuclearwasteissegregatedintoseveralclassifications.
Lowlevelwasteisnotdangerousbutsometimes
requiresshieldingduringhandling.
Intermediatelevelwastetypicallyischemicalsludge
andotherproductsfromreactors.
Highlevelwasteconsistsoffissionableelementsfrom
reactorcoresandtransuranicwastes.
Transuranicwasteisanywastewithtransuranicalpha
emittingradionuclidesthathavehalfliveslongerthan
20years.

 LowLevelWaste
LLW
Lowlevelwasteisanywastethatcouldbe
fromahighactivityarea.
90%volumeofwaste
Itdoesnotnecessarilycarryany
radioactivity.
Splitintofourcatagories:A,B,C,and
GTCC.

 IntermediateLevelWaste
ILW
Intermediatelevelwasterequiresshielding
whenbeinghandled.
7%volumeofwaste
Dependentontheamountofactivityitcan
beburiedinshallowrepositories.
NotrecognizedintheUnitedStates.

 HighLevelWaste
HLW
Highlevelwastehasalargeamountof
radioactiveactivityandisthermallyhot.
3%volumeofwaste
95%ofradioactivity
CurrentlevelsofHLWareincreasingabout
12,000metrictonsperyear.
MostHLWconsistsofPu238,239,240,
241,242,Np237,U236

 TransuranicWaste
TRUW
Transuranicwasteconsistsofallwastethat
hasradionuclidesaboveuranium.
TRUWstypicallyhavelongerhalflives
thanotherformsofwaste.
Typicallyabyproductofweapons
manufacturing.
OnlyrecognizedintheUnitedStates.

 CreationofNuclearWaste
Nuclearwasteisgeneratedatallpointsof
thefuelcycle.
Frontendwasteconsistsprimarilyoflow
levelalphaemissionwaste.
Serviceperiodwastetypicallyincludes
LLWandILWsuchascontaminatedreactor
housingsandwastefromdailyoperation.
Backendwastenormallyisthemost
radioactiveandincludesspentfuelrodsand
reactorcores.

 FrontEndWaste
FrontendwasteconsistsmostlyofLLW
andILW.
Theprimaryfrontendwasteisdepleted
uraniumandradium.
DUhasseveralusesduetoitshighdensity
(19,050kg/m3).
Mixwithuraniumtoformreactorfuel

 ServicePeriodWaste
ConsistsofmostlyILW.
Mostlywasteproducedattheplantduring
normaloperation.
Spentfuelrodsarethemostdangerous
wasteproducedduringtheserviceperiod.

 BackEndWaste
Nuclearwastedeveloped
duringthebackendofthe
fuelcycleisthemost
dangerousandincludes
mostoftheHLWproduced.
Mostbackendwasteemits
bothgammaandbeta
particles.
Alsouranium234,
neptunium237,plutonium
SpentnuclearfuelinacoolingpondinNorth
238andamericium241are Korea.
foundinbackendwaste.

 WasteManagement(LLW)
Thereareseveral
optionsavailablefor
thedisposalofLLW
duetoitslackof
radioactivity.
WasteIsolationPilot
Plant
Onsitedisposal MapofWIPPFacility

 Treatment(LLW)
Filtration
IonExchange
Evaporation
Incineration
Compaction
Solidification
TypicalLLWtreatmentfacility.

 WasteManagement(HLW)
Mostcommonutilized
optionarereactorpools
anddrycaskstorage.
OtherOptionsforwaste
managementinclude:
DeepGeologoical
Storage
Transmutation
Locationsofstoragesitesfornuclear
Reuse wasteintheU.S.
Launchingitintospace

 Treatment
Mostcommoninitialtreatmentofwasteis
vitrification.
Wasteisfirstmixedwithsugarandthenpassed
throughaheatedtubetodenitritethematerial.
Thismaterialisthenfedintoafurnaceand
mixedwithglass.
Themoltenglassmixtureispouredintosteel
cylindersandweldedshut.

 Treatment(Cont.)
Midlevelactivewasteiscommonlytreated
withionexchange
Processreducesthebulkvolumeof
radioactivematerial.
Typically,mixedwithconcreteforasolid
storageform.

 Treatment(Cont.)
Synrocisanewmethodforstoringnuclear
wastedevelopedin1978byTedRingwood.
Attemptstoholdradioactivematerialina
crystallinematrix.
Currentlyinuseformilitarywaste
managementatSavannahRiverSite.
Canhold50%70%volumeofwaste.

 DeepGeologicalRepository
Mostcommonmethodfor
handlingnuclearwaste.
Typicallykeptseparate
fromactualplantsand
buriedfarbelowground.
Firstusedin1999inthe
US.
Currentresearchis
focusingonYucca
Mountain. YuccaMountainSite

TransmutationofNuclearWaste
Reducestransuranicwaste.
IntegralFastReactor
Banned19771981(U.S.)
MOXFuel
Behavesaslowenricheduranium
Researchnowinsubcriticalreactors.
Fusionalsobeingresearched.

 ReuseofNuclearWaste
Researchisbeingperformedtofindusesfor
nuclearwaste.
Caesium137andstrontium90alreadyused
inindustrialapplications.
Somewastecanbeusedforradioisotope
thermoelectricgenerators(RTGs).
OverallcanreducetotalHLWbutnot
eliminateit.

 LaunchitintoSpace
Nearinfinitestorage
space
Completelyremoves
wastefrombiosphere
Technicalrisksand
problems
Political
entanglements

 Conclusions
HLWismostdangerous
byproductofnuclear
power.
Borosilicateglassmost
commonstorage.
Severalvenuesbeing
researchedforthesafe
disposalofHLW.