Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Nuclear waste is the radioactive waste left over from nuclear reactors,
nuclear research projects, and nuclear bomb production. Nuclear
waste is divided into low, medium, and high-level waste by the
amount of radioactivity the waste produces. Although nuclear waste
can be very dangerous, and should not be handled by anyone without
professional training, it is not necessarily more dangerous than
chemical poisons such as ricin and botulin.
Temporary Storage:
The spent fuel rods from a nuclear reactor are the most radioactive of
all nuclear wastes. There is no permanent storage site of spent fuel
rods. Temporary storage is being used while a permanent site is
searched for and prepared.
When the spent fuel rods are removed from the reactor core, they are
extremely hot and have to be cooled down. Most nuclear power plants
have a temporary storage pool next to the reactor and the spent rods
are placed in the pool, so that they can cool down. The pool is not
filled with ordinary water but with boric acid. It helps to absorb some
of the radiation given off by the radioactive nuclei inside the spent
rods. The spent fuel rods are supposed to stay in the pool for only
about 6 months, but because there isn’t a permanent storage site,
they can stay there for many years.
Permanent Storage:
The most hopeful option to permanently remove waste is burying the
waste in the ground. This is called "deep geological disposal". If a
spent fuel rod is not contained, it could come in contact with humans
and wildlife, which would be dangerous. Also, if the waste is being
stored underground, it should be stored in an area where there is
little groundwater flowing through. If groundwater flows through a
waste storage site, it could erode the containment canisters and carry
waste away into the environment.
Sulfide sponge:
Finding Sr2+ ions is like searching for a needle in a haystack: non-
radioactive ions of sodium (Na+) and calcium (Ca2+) are a million
times more numerous, and positively charged and around the same
size. Current nuclear waste treatments are not effective at
distinguishing between these different metals, which can frustrate
cleaning efforts. It works well in both very basic and very acidic
conditions found in different nuclear waste. It is also easy to make
from inexpensive materials. The theory hasn’t been proven yet, but
scientists from Northwestern are looking to spread the idea.
Algae
U.S. researchers say common freshwater algae can take out
radioactive strontium from water and could be used to clean up
nuclear waste.
Through lots of evidence that we’ve given you, you should know
pretty much everything about nuclear waste. We made sure to
mention the opinion of smart scientist guys too.
From when nuclear waste was first disposed, the scientific world has
come a long way in devising multiple ways to dispose of it, as well as
get the process approved by the society.