/r/NuclearWaste
The Nuclear Waste Reddit
The Nuclear Waste Reddit
Nuclear waste - waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is usually a by-product of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine. Radioactive waste is hazardous to all forms of life and the environment, and is regulated by government agencies in order to protect human health and the environment.
Radioactivity naturally decays over time, so radioactive waste has to be isolated and confined in appropriate disposal facilities for a sufficient period until it no longer poses a threat. The time radioactive waste must be stored for depends on the type of waste and radioactive isotopes. Current approaches to managing radioactive waste have been segregation and storage for short-lived waste, near-surface disposal for low and some intermediate level waste, and deep burial or partitioning / transmutation for the high-level waste.
A summary of the amounts of radioactive waste and management approaches for most developed countries are presented and reviewed periodically as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.
Related Reddits
/r/NuclearWaste
178 Subscribers
Florida Lawmakers Approve Use of Radioactive Waste for Paving Roads
19:11 UTC
Why is this sub so toxic?
16:54 UTC
nuclear waste crucible?
10:15 UTC
Please educate yourselves!
Sign and share this petition!!! http://chng.it/8RDHqYcf
The American owned, Marshall Islands situated between Australia and Hawaii were subject to 67 nuclear test between 1946 and 1958. Currently, the levels of nuclear waste on this island are up to 15-1000 times higher than in samples from areas affected by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. The Americans built a dome known as "the tomb" over the contaminated soil. However, this concrete coffin is at risk of collapsing after rising sea levels. If this collapses it will pollute the pacific ocean causing potentially irreversible effects. There isn't much we can do, but as a community, we can educate each other; raise awareness and take a stand.
17:24 UTC
DOE completes $4.5 billion cleanup of gaseous diffusion plant in Oak Ridge
02:01 UTC
Hope you enjoy this meme of what could be gotten from the waste of energy sorces. Template from https://imgflip.com/memetemplate/172029757/Amateurs edited with paint.
14:50 UTC
My first video about nuclear energy waste. Love to hear feedback!
I made a short video (4 mins) titled as "Nuclear Energy Waste and WastePD".
Finally, it has entered a contest held by US Department of Energy (DOE).
https://energyfrontier.us/video-contest-2
The aim of this video is to be educational and to promote the scientific understanding of nuclear waste disposal.
You will learn how nature has inspired the research of nuclear waste (Hint: natural nuclear reactors in Africa) and how researchers strategize their approaches.
If you like it, please vote for me!
Simply click “Select” next to the video and click “Vote” at the end of the page.
You will be asked to enter an email address. Any emails would do. It is just a way for DOE to calculate votes.
BTW, this is my first video I have ever created. Feel free to drop your questions. Any non-destructive criticism will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
00:29 UTC
not all radioactive waste becomes less hazardous with time
In the sidebar for this reddit, which I have only just joined, there is a statement that "Radioactivity naturally decays over time..."
This is a bit misleading, since although radioactive decay of a given radionuclide does reduce its abundance in time, the flip side, ingrowth, can be a bit startling in some cases.
A classic examples is that of depleted uranium, which is predominantly U-238. As this decays (very slowly, by the way, with a half-life equal to about the current age of the earth) the progeny start showing up. First Th-234 and U234, and later, Th-230, Ra-226, and Rn-222 and the rest of the progeny (about 20 of them) in this very long decay chain. It takes a good long time for all these to grow in, and as they do, the radioactivity of what used to be mostly U-238 increases dramatically -- many orders of magnitude.
Secular equilibrium, where the ratios between the parents and all the progeny have reached a steady state, takes about 2.1 million years.
So, it is not true that (all) radioactive waste becomes less hazardous with time.
23:25 UTC