Nuclear Waste Materials With High Levels Of Radiation Are Stored Temporarily In

High level waste includes used nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors and waste generated from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuelalthough defense related activities generate most of the united states liquid high level waste the majority of spent nuclear fuel.

Nuclear waste containment facility. High level radioactive waste is stored temporarily in spent fuel pools and in dry cask storage facilities. Low level radioactive waste does not usually require heavy shielding during handling and interim storage. The radioactivity of the wastes decays with time providing a strong incentive to store high level waste for about 50 years before disposal.

Ninety two per cent of the radioactive waste produced by ansto is low level waste made up of paper plastic. The owners of low level radioactive waste are responsible for managing the waste they produce. There was reportedly some 47000 tonnes 100 million pounds of high level nuclear waste stored in the united states 2002.

Storage of used fuel is normally under water for at least five years and then often in dry storage. The size of the type b packages can range from small containers to those weighing over 100 tons. Ultimately this waste is stored as sludge liquid or pellets and must be solidified before manufacturers or labs can dispose of it.

Low level waste emits radiation at levels which generally require minimal shielding during handling transport and storage. Type b packages are used to transport materials with high levels of radioactivity such as spent fuel from nuclear power plants. There are different categories of nuclear waste.

As defined in the united states there are five general categories of radioactive waste. Low level radioactive waste such as contaminated gloves can be disposed of in landfill sites. Shielding refers to a barrier like a concrete wall or protective clothing between stored waste and nuclear workers.

High level radioactive waste is the waste that comes from producing nuclear materials for defense purposes. These large heavy packages provide shielding against the radiation. Disposal of low level waste is straightforward and can be undertaken safely almost anywhere.

Radioactive waste can be classified into three main categories low intermediate and high. But the biggest part of the problem is that such waste is produced inside nuclear energy facilities at astonishing levels250000 tons of spent nuclear fuel were stored onsite at nuclear power plants around the world as of the last accounting and that number grows by the thousands of tons each and. In 1997 in the 20 countries which account for most of the worlds nuclear power generation spent fuel storage capacity at the reactors was 148000 tonnes with 59 of this utilized.