Radioactive waste

Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It comes from many activities, such as nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons reprocessing. Governments carefully regulate how this waste is stored and disposed of to keep people and the environment safe.

Radioactive waste is sorted into three main groups: low-level waste, like paper and clothing with small amounts of short-lived radioactivity; intermediate-level waste, which has more radioactivity and needs shielding; and high-level waste, which is very hot and highly radioactive, requiring cooling and special protection.

Spent nuclear fuel can sometimes be processed in special plants called nuclear reprocessing plants. This can recycle most of the fuel, but some parts remain as waste and are turned into a glass-like material for safe storage deep underground in a deep geological repository. How long radioactive waste needs to be stored depends on what types of radioactive elements it contains, with some needing to be kept for thousands of years.

Nature and significance

Radioactive waste contains unstable elements that break down and give off harmful energy. These elements can stay dangerous for many years, but their danger lessens over time. Different types of radioactive waste can cause different health problems, depending on how they affect the body and how long they stay inside it.

The main article: Fission product yield

See also: Radioactive decay