Nuclear waste management (original) (raw)
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Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics, 2011
If nuclear power becomes a sustainable source of energy, a safe, robust, and acceptable solution must be pursued for existing and projected inventories of high-activity, longlived radioactive waste. Remarkable progress in the field of geological disposal has been made in the last two decades. Some countries have reached important milestones, and geological disposal (of spent fuel) is expected to start in 2020 in Finland and in 2022 in Sweden. In fact, the licensing of the geological repositories in both countries is now entering into its final phase. In France, disposal of intermediate-level waste (ILW) and vitrified high-level waste (HLW) is expected to start around 2025, according to the roadmap defined by an Act of Parliament in 2006. In this context, transmutation of part of the waste through use of advanced fuel cycles, probably feasible in the coming decades, can reduce the burden on the geological repository. This article presents the physical principle of transmutation and reviews several strategies of partitioning and transmutation (P&T). Many recent studies have demonstrated that the impact of P&T on geological disposal concepts is not overwhelmingly high. However, by reducing waste heat production, a more efficient utilization of repository space is likely. Moreover, even if radionuclide release from the waste to the environment and related calculated doses to the population are only partially reduced by P&T, it is important to point out that a clear reduction of the actinide inventory in the HLW definitely reduces risks arising from less probable evolutions of a repository (i.e., an increase of actinide mobility in certain geochemical situations and radiological impact by human intrusion).
Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 1995
A deep geological repository for safe long-term storage of long-lived radioactive materials (waste) arising from nuclear fuel irradiation in reactors is a need generally accepted, whatever the strategy envisaged for further use of the irradiated fuel (e.g. : reprocessing and re-use of uranium and plutonium ; no reprocessing and final disposal).
Waste management strategies and disposal concepts for spent nuclear fuel around the world
2017
The final safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel is one of the major challenges of our time. Nuclear powered nations are actively developing long-term waste management strategies and disposal concepts for their spent nuclear fuel, and high-level waste resulting from reprocessing. Direct disposal and reprocessing are the waste management strategies currently being adopted by countries around the world. In November 2015, the Finnish government granted the construction license to build a permanent deeprock geological repository for the final safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel in Finland; the first of its kind. Of other countries that have embraced the direct disposal concept, only Sweden and France have made significant progress in site selection and the development of their own disposal concepts. Canada and the UK have invited communities to volunteer to host a geological repository before the final screening of site selection process. Many other countries are in the preliminary stages ...
Emerging Answers in the Management and Disposal of Radioactive Wastes
2006
The National Policy of the United States is safe, permanent, surface or subsurface disposal of non-high-level radioactive waste from the nuclear fuel cycle to ensure long-term containment and isolation from the environment. That policy is contained in the fundamental U.S. laws governing nuclear fuel cycle wastes-the Atomic Energy Act, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, and the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (NDAA), among others. The U.S. has been largely successful in implementing this policy to date and most of the low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) generated by NRC licensees has been safely disposed, rather than stored. Only greater-than-class C (GTCC) LLRW has been without a disposal option. At the same time, the U.S. program for radioactive waste disposal can be improved in a number of ways to enhance safety, to better utilize risk information in decision-making, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall program, and to enhance openness. This paper will address four "emerging answers" that aid in moving the country towards the goal of safe, permanent disposal for all types of non-high level radioactive waste generated in the nuclear fuel cycle.
Toward a repository for high-level radioactive waste: Perspectives and approaches
Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis, 2022
The stupendous time perspective of one million years, which is often associated with the disposal of high-level radioactive waste, opens up an immensely wide temporal horizon and an irritatingly vast future space. The dimensions of this period are significant because of the persistence of the radioactive hazard that in the case of disposal in an underground repository requires stability of geological formations encasing it. It is a problem, a task, a project that can to some extent be quantified and thought through, but that in a way is also unimaginable or even incomprehensible. Nevertheless, there is a need for action-in the distant future, but more urgently in the present. The future can be far away and present at the same time. This is certainly true for the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste. According to the law the siting decision for a final repository in Germany should be taken in the year 2031-though this time frame is considered unrealistic by now (see below). What appears to be the future in this country has already dawned in Switzerland. In our neighbouring country, a site has been proposed in September 2022. This marks the beginning of a new phase with its specific tasks and challenges. It is also very interesting to look at Finland, which was the first country in the world ever to realize a deep geological repository for highly radioactive waste from the civil use of nuclear energy. The future developments in Switzerland, the way emerging problems are handled there and the way they were handled in Finland-from a technical and societal point of view-thus (still) offer interesting insights for all the others who still have this phase ahead of them and want to prepare themselves.
Overview of the CEA French Research Program on Nuclear Waste
MRS Proceedings, 2008
This presentation gives an overview of the French major research program on nuclear waste and presents some perspectives in the context of the 2006 Act, while focusing on the main CEA contributions. Development of new conditioning processes combined with in-depth studies of the waste-packages long term behaviour studies allows enhancing the expected performance of waste-packages. Geological disposal performances have been demonstrated based in particular on the relevant understanding of the radionuclides chemistry and migration in complex environment, including tracing field-experiments in ANDRA underground research lab. French research and plans for waste from future reactors will be discussed. It is still a very prospective area as fuel materials that will be used in these reactors is not decided. The capacity to recycle most of the fuel component will be a major point in the choice of an integrated concept including reactor and fuel cycle.
Nuclear Energy and Waste Disposal in the Age of Fuel Recycling
The magnitude of humanity's energy needs requires that we embrace a multitude of various energy sources and applications. For a variety of reasons, nuclear energy must be a major portion of the distribution, at least one-third. The often-cited strategic hurdle to this approach is nuclear waste disposal. Present strategies concerning disposal of nuclear waste need to be changed if the world is to achieve both a sustainable energy distribution by 2040 and solve the largest environmental issue of the 21 st century - global warming. It is hoped that ambitious proposals to replace fossil fuel power generation by alternatives will drop the percentage of fossil fuel use substantially, but the absolute amount of fossil fuel produced electricity will be kept at or below its present 10 trillion kW-hrs/year. Unfortunately, the rapid growth in consumption to over 30 trillion kW-hrs/year by 2040, means that 20 trillion kW-hrs/yr of non- fossil fuel generated power has to come from other sou...
A Comprehensive Approach to Deal with the Nuclear Waste Problem - 11452
2011
It is desirable to devise a solution for the fuel cycle back-end that is acceptable from the society as well as technologically and economically viable. While satisfactory technological solutions exist, they only address portions of the overall problem. A fully integrated effective solution satisfying all public concerns has yet to be developed. In particular, we aim to establish a comprehensive requirements-driven approach. In this approach, requirements are defined for the high-level wastes with the intent not only to satisfy all technical constraints but also to make them "acceptable" to the public perception. Only then, the best mix of nuclear reactors, reprocessing and fuel forms is examined to determine an effective, viable overall system. One intended benefit of the proposed strategy is that there is no a priori bias for or against any specific nuclear system. In fact, a mix of several different systems will likely provide an optimum solution, promoting collaboration between the relevant industry and research entities in the fuel-cycle back-end activities.
The management of radioactive waste: a description of ten countries
Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, 2002
Building confidence in the long-term safety of deep geological disposal is a key issue for the nuclear waste management community. It involves nurturing confidence in long-term safety measures on the part not only of technical specialists and the scientific community, but also of political decision-makers and the general public. Typically, repository development proceeds in stages, and flexibility must be built into the development process at each stage so as to allow for both new and better understanding and the demands of society at large in terms of reviewing the process. Confidence in long-term safety thus requires communication with a wide audience on a variety of issues involved in the stepwise implementation process.
Approaches to Disposal of Nuclear Waste
Energies
We present a concise mini overview on the approaches to the disposal of nuclear waste currently used or deployed. The disposal of nuclear waste is the end point of nuclear waste management (NWM) activities and is the emplacement of waste in an appropriate facility without the intention to retrieve it. The IAEA has developed an internationally accepted classification scheme based on the end points of NWM, which is used as guidance. Retention times needed for safe isolation of waste radionuclides are estimated based on the radiotoxicity of nuclear waste. Disposal facilities usually rely on a multi-barrier defence system to isolate the waste from the biosphere, which comprises the natural geological barrier and the engineered barrier system. Disposal facilities could be of a trench type, vaults, tunnels, shafts, boreholes, or mined repositories. A graded approach relates the depth of the disposal facilities’ location with the level of hazard. Disposal practices demonstrate the reliabil...