P.A.Baisden 1 , C.E.Atkins-Duffm 2
1 Chemistry and Materials Science Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, USA
2 Energy and Environment Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, USA
Issues related to the management of radioactive wastes are presented with specific emphasis on high-level wastes generated as a result of energy and materials production using nuclear reactors. The final disposition of these high-level wastes depends on which nuclear fuel cycle is pursued, and range from once-through burning of fuel in a light water reactor followed by direct disposal in a geologic repository to more advanced fuel cycles where the spent fuel is reprocessed or partitioned to recover the fissile material (primarily 235U and 239Pu) as well as the minor actinides (neptunium, americium and curium) and some long-lived fission products (e.g., 99Tc and 129I). In the latter fuel cycle, the fissile materials are recycled through a reactor to produce more energy, the short-lived fission products are vitrified and disposed of in a geologic repository, and the minor actinides and long-lived fission products are converted to less radiotoxic or otherwise stable nuclides by a process called transmutation. The advantages and disadvantages of the various fuel cycle options and the challenges to the management of nuclear wastes they represent are discussed.
Radioactive wastes, like most other waste forms, contain a variety of materials differing widely in chemical composition, physical state and origin, either naturally-occurring or man-made. This range of materials necessitates equally variant strategies...
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