Radioactive waste and its impact

Every year and a half to two years, every nuclear plant goes through a cleaning cycle that shuts down the plant to allow for the removal of radioactive waste. There are many factors of radioactive waste. Everything from where it comes from, to the different types, to the effects it has, and what is radioactive waste as a whole.

What is radioactive waste exactly? Well, radioactive waste is a nuclear fuel that is produced after being used inside a nuclear reactor. It looks identical before and after it is used. The radioactive material that is left is highly dangerous to anyone in contact with it. It remains very dangerous for thousands of years. It has to be maintained in the proper way to avoid any global catastrophe.  Anyone in contact with radioactive waste exposure could die in only the matter of seconds.  In a whole radioactive waste in any state is still radioactive waste from nuclear substances that is very harmful.

Where does radioactive waste come from? 

Radioactive waste is produced from a nuclear reactor. Radioactive waste is produced or used in mining, defense, medicine, scientific research, and nuclear power generation industries that make a byproduct that includes radioactive waste. Some types more harmful than others, but any radioactive waste is severely toxic and anyone to come within meters of it can result in radiation sickness. People working in such industries have to be trained extensively to maintain the well-being of themselves and the world around them.

Since radioactive waste is so dangerous and the government has to take various actions as to its disposal. This is a big issue because there are not many places you can dispose of something so dangerous. It is stored for 40-50 years while the radioactivity decays to less than one percent of its original level. Then after this time span it is disposed of deep underground and away from the biosphere. In more than 50 decades of nuclear power generations there have been no known incidents or health risks caused from this plan of disposal.

There are various types of radioactive waste. Some of these types are more dangerous than others. That being said none of them should be taken less serious than the others they are all just as important to maintain properly to insure the safety of mankind and the world.

High level radioactive waste is obvious to be the most dangerous type. There are two types of nuclear reactors, pressurized and boiler water reactors. High level nuclear waste is basically fuel spent that still exists after it has been used inside of a nuclear reactor. This type of waste takes several years to cool in temperature. This is one of the main reasons it is so dangerous because it takes a great length of time to drop temperature to be able to properly dispose of the waste. To cool this type of radioactive waste it is placed in pools of water hundreds of feet deep. This type of cooling takes place at specified sites that are approved by the government. High level wastes make up 95 percent of radioactivity produced in nuclear reactors.

Intermediate level waste is second in line for level of danger. This type of waste has less amounts of radio activity than high level radioactive waste but still needs the same level of seriousness taken to handle the disposal properly. Shielding is required during handling and storage of this waste. Refurbishment waste, ion-exchange resins, chemical sludge’s and metal fuel cladding are the normal wastes brought about in this level of radioactive waste. Intermediate level waste makes up 4 percent of all radioactivity. This level of waste that needs longer time management is transferred to appropriate facilities to insure proper disposal.

Low level waste is the least dangerous but should not be ignored. Most of the waste around today is classified as a low level waste making up 90 percent of the nuclear waste as a whole. Nuclear reactors, hospitals, dental offices, and similar types of facilities use low-level nuclear waste materials daily to provide the services that are utilized in these facilities. This level of waste is considered to be not dangerous and is disposed of in landfills. No shielding is required for the transportation or disposal of this level of radioactive waste.