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Education -->
Nuclear Facts
NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL
About nuclear waste disposal
High-level “nuclear
waste” is really used nuclear fuel.
Used nuclear fuel: ceramic pellets encased in metal tubes
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Used nuclear fuel looks and feels the same as when
it was new: a hard ceramic pellet about the size of the tip of
your little finger. Now it is simply too weak to power a nuclear
reactor economically. It is less fissionable, that is, less
capable of undergoing a nuclear chain reaction. But it is also
more radioactive. The fuel rods—metal tubes in which the pellets
are inserted when they are manufactured—help to contain this
radiation. The rods are grouped into bundles to create fuel
assemblies, which are loaded into the reactor. |
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Used nuclear fuel cannot explode and does not burn
Even when new, nuclear fuel is too weak to explode. Uranium mined from the ground is less
than 1 percent fissionable and must be enriched to 4 percent in order to be used in a
nuclear reactor. The uranium would have to be 20 to 90 percent enriched to be used as a
weapon. Also, nuclear fuel does not burn when used in a nuclear reactor. In fact, it is
not flammable.
Recycling used nuclear fuel in the United States
When most U.S. nuclear plants were built, the industry—with federal government
encouragement—planned to recycle used nuclear fuel. In 1979, President Carter,
completing a process begun by President Ford, banned commercial used nuclear fuel
reprocessing in order to address concerns raised about the possible proliferation of
nuclear weapons. This decision mandated a once-through, single use fuel cycle. Although
President Reagan lifted the reprocessing ban in 1981, non-proliferation concerns continue
to guide U.S. policy. Reprocessing and recycling are also not currently cost-effective in
the United States, although recycling is being done in other countries.
A nuclear fuel pellet contains a lot of energy
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One uranium nuclear fuel pellet the size of the tip of your little finger is equivalent to
the energy provided by 1,780 pounds of coal; or 149 gallons of oil, as much oil as fits in
three 50 gallon drums; or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas. The energy is released inside
the reactor through fission—the splitting of uranium atoms in a chain reaction. In
the nuclear plant, the heat energy produced boils water into steam, which drives a turbine
generator to produce electricity. |
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High energy means a small volume of used fuel
Every 12-24 months, U.S. plants are shut down and the oldest fuel assemblies are removed
and replaced. All of the country's nuclear power plants together produce about 2,000
metric tons of used fuel annually. To put this in perspective, all the used fuel produced
to date by the U.S. nuclear energy industry in more than 40 years of operation—some
40,000 metric tons—would cover an area the size of a football field to a depth of
about five yards, if the fuel assemblies were stacked side by side and laid end to end.
Total waste management
The environmental policies and practices at nuclear power plants are
unique in having successfully prevented significant harmful impacts on
the environment since the start of the commercial nuclear industry more
than 40 years ago. As a result, the nuclear energy industry is the only
industry established since the industrial revolution that has managed
and accounted for virtually all of its by-product material.
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By reducing, eliminating, or managing their waste, nuclear
facilities have prevented or lessened adverse impacts on water,
land, habitat, species and air from releases or emissions in the
production of electricity. Throughout the nuclear fuel cycle, the
small volumes of nuclear by-products actually created are
carefully contained, packaged and safely stored. As a result of
improved process efficiencies, the average volume of waste
generated at nuclear power plants has decreased significantly in
the past two decades.
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