Editing Nuclear power (section)

=== Waste ===
{{main|Nuclear waste}}
[[File:Nuclear fuel composition.svg|upright=1.5|thumb|Typical composition of [[uranium dioxide]] fuel before and after approximately three years in the [[once-through nuclear fuel cycle]] of a [[LWR]]<ref name="jaif">{{cite web|url=http://www.jaif.or.jp/ja/wnu_si_intro/document/08-07-16-finck_philip.pdf | title=Current Options for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle |publisher=JAIF |author=Finck, Philip| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412130546/http://www.jaif.or.jp/ja/wnu_si_intro/document/08-07-16-finck_philip.pdf | archive-date=2012-04-12 }}</ref>]]
The normal operation of nuclear power plants and facilities produce [[radioactive waste]], or nuclear waste. This type of waste is also produced during plant decommissioning. There are two broad categories of nuclear waste: low-level waste and high-level waste.<ref name=nrc_waste/> The first has low radioactivity and includes contaminated items such as clothing, which poses limited threat. High-level waste is mainly the spent fuel from nuclear reactors, which is very radioactive and must be cooled and then safely disposed of or reprocessed.<ref name=nrc_waste>{{cite web |title=Backgrounder on Radioactive Waste |url=https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/radwaste.html |website=NRC |publisher=[[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]] |access-date=20 April 2021 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113004118/https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/radwaste.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== High-level waste ====
{{main|High-level waste|Spent nuclear fuel}}
[[File:Spent nuclear fuel decay sievert.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Activity of spent UOx fuel in comparison to the activity of natural [[uranium ore]] over time<ref name="m.phys.org">{{Cite web | url=https://m.phys.org/news/2017-11-fast-reactor-shorten-lifetime-long-lived.html |title = A fast reactor system to shorten the lifetime of long-lived fission products}}</ref><ref name="jaif"/>]]
[[File:Nuclear dry storage.jpg|thumb|[[Dry cask storage]] vessels storing spent nuclear fuel assemblies]]

The most important waste stream from nuclear power reactors is [[spent nuclear fuel]], which is considered [[high-level waste]]. For Light Water Reactors (LWRs), spent fuel is typically composed of 95% uranium, 4% [[fission product]]s, and about 1% [[transuranic]] [[actinides]] (mostly [[plutonium]], [[neptunium]] and [[americium]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Radioactivity: Minor Actinides |url=http://www.radioactivity.eu.com/site/pages/Minor_Actinides.htm |website=www.radioactivity.eu.com |access-date=2018-12-23 |archive-date=2018-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211042617/http://www.radioactivity.eu.com/site/pages/Minor_Actinides.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The fission products are responsible for the bulk of the short-term radioactivity, whereas the plutonium and other transuranics are responsible for the bulk of the long-term radioactivity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ojovan |first1=Michael I. |title=An introduction to nuclear waste immobilisation, second edition |date=2014 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Kidlington, Oxford, U.K. |isbn=978-0-08-099392-8 |edition=2nd}}</ref>

High-level waste (HLW) must be stored isolated from the [[biosphere]] with sufficient shielding so as to limit radiation exposure. After being removed from the reactors, used fuel bundles are stored for six to ten years in [[spent fuel pool]]s, which provide cooling and shielding against radiation. After that, the fuel is cool enough that it can be safely transferred to [[dry cask storage]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/waste/high-level-waste/index.cfm|title=High-level radioactive waste|publisher=Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission|date=February 3, 2014|website=nuclearsafety.gc.ca|access-date=April 19, 2022|archive-date=April 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414190417/http://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/waste/high-level-waste/index.cfm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The radioactivity decreases exponentially with time, such that it will have decreased by 99.5% after 100 years.<ref>{{cite tech report |last1=Hedin |first1=A. |title=Spent nuclear fuel - how dangerous is it? A report from the project 'Description of risk' |date=1997 |url=https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/587853 |publisher=Energy Technology Data Exchange}}</ref> The more intensely radioactive short-lived [[fission products]] (SLFPs) decay into stable elements in approximately 300 years, and after about 100,000 years, the spent fuel becomes less radioactive than natural uranium ore.<ref name="jaif"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bruno |first1=Jordi |last2=Duro |first2=Laura |last3=Diaz-Maurin |first3=François |date=2020 |title=Advances in Nuclear Fuel Chemistry |chapter=Chapter 13 – Spent nuclear fuel and disposal |series=Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy |pages=527–553 |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780081025710000148 |publisher=Woodhead Publishing |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-102571-0.00014-8 |isbn=978-0-08-102571-0 |s2cid=216544356 |access-date=2021-09-20 |archive-date=2021-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920212807/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780081025710000148 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Commonly suggested methods to isolate LLFP waste from the biosphere include separation and [[Nuclear transmutation|transmutation]],<ref name="jaif"/> [[synroc]] treatments, or deep geological storage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ojovan |first1=M. I. |title=An Introduction to Nuclear Waste Immobilisation |last2=Lee |first2=W. E. |publisher=Elsevier Science Publishers |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-08-044462-8 |location=Amsterdam, Netherlands |page=315}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Technical Bases for Yucca Mountain Standards |author=National Research Council |year=1995 |publisher=National Academy Press |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0-309-05289-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1DLyAtgVPy0C&pg=PA91|page=91}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/2006/january/article1.html |title=The Status of Nuclear Waste Disposal |date=January 2006 |publisher=The American Physical Society |access-date=2008-06-06 |archive-date=2008-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516010935/http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/2006/january/article1.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/yucca/70fr49013.pdf |title=Public Health and Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada; Proposed Rule |date=2005-08-22 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |access-date=2008-06-06 |archive-date=2008-06-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626191551/http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/yucca/70fr49013.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Thermal-neutron reactor]]s, which presently constitute the majority of the world fleet, cannot burn up the [[reactor grade plutonium]] that is generated during the reactor operation. This limits the life of nuclear fuel to a few years. In some countries, such as the United States, spent fuel is classified in its entirety as a nuclear waste.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32163.pdf |title=CRS Report for Congress. Radioactive Waste Streams: Waste Classification for Disposal |quote=The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) defined irradiated fuel as spent nuclear fuel, and the byproducts as high-level waste. |access-date=2018-12-22 |archive-date=2017-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829231541/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32163.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In other countries, such as France, it is largely reprocessed to produce a partially recycled fuel, known as mixed oxide fuel or [[MOX]]. For spent fuel that does not undergo reprocessing, the most concerning isotopes are the medium-lived [[transuranic element]]s, which are led by reactor-grade plutonium (half-life 24,000 years).<ref>{{harvnb|Vandenbosch|2007|p=21.|Ref=none}}</ref> Some proposed reactor designs, such as the [[integral fast reactor]] and [[molten salt reactor]]s, can use as fuel the plutonium and other actinides in spent fuel from light water reactors, thanks to their [[fast fission]] spectrum. This offers a potentially more attractive alternative to deep geological disposal.<ref>{{cite news |author=Clark |first=Duncan |date=2012-07-09 |title=Nuclear waste-burning reactor moves a step closer to reality |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/09/nuclear-waste-burning-reactor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008223126/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/09/nuclear-waste-burning-reactor |archive-date=2022-10-08 |access-date=2013-06-14 |newspaper=Guardian |location=London, England}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Monbiot |first=George |date=5 December 2011 |title=A Waste of Waste |url=http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/05/a-waste-of-waste/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601052759/http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/05/a-waste-of-waste/ |archive-date=2013-06-01 |access-date=2013-06-14 |publisher=Monbiot.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZR0UKxNPh8  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/AZR0UKxNPh8| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Energy From Thorium: A Nuclear Waste Burning Liquid Salt Thorium Reactor |publisher=YouTube |date=2009-07-23 |access-date=2013-06-14}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The [[thorium fuel cycle]] results in similar fission products, though creates a much smaller proportion of transuranic elements from [[neutron capture]] events within a reactor. Spent thorium fuel, although more difficult to handle than spent uranium fuel, may present somewhat lower proliferation risks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Role of Thorium to Supplement Fuel Cycles of Future Nuclear Energy Systems |url=https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Pub1540_web.pdf |publisher=IAEA |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=2012 |quote=Once irradiated in a reactor, the fuel of a thorium–uranium cycle contains an admixture of 232U (half-life 68.9 years) whose radioactive decay chain includes emitters (particularly 208Tl) of high energy gamma radiation (2.6{{nbsp}}MeV). This makes spent thorium fuel treatment more difficult, requires remote handling/control during reprocessing and during further fuel fabrication, but on the other hand, may be considered as an additional non-proliferation barrier. |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506123715/https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1540_web.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Low-level waste ====
{{main|Low-level waste}}

The nuclear industry also produces a large volume of [[low-level waste]], with low radioactivity, in the form of contaminated items like clothing, hand tools, water purifier resins, and (upon decommissioning) the materials of which the reactor itself is built. Low-level waste can be stored on-site until radiation levels are low enough to be disposed of as ordinary waste, or it can be sent to a low-level waste disposal site.<ref>{{cite web |title=NRC: Low-Level Waste |url=https://www.nrc.gov/waste/low-level-waste.html |website=www.nrc.gov |access-date=28 August 2018 |language=en |archive-date=17 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817193533/https://www.nrc.gov/waste/low-level-waste.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Waste relative to other types ====
{{See also|Radioactive waste#Naturally occurring radioactive material}}
In countries with nuclear power, radioactive wastes account for less than 1% of total industrial toxic wastes, much of which remains hazardous for long periods.<ref name="wna-wmitnfc" /> Overall, nuclear power produces far less waste material by volume than fossil-fuel based power plants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nuclearinfo.net/Nuclearpower/TheRisksOfNuclearPower|title=The Challenges of Nuclear Power|access-date=2013-01-04|archive-date=2017-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510092527/http://nuclearinfo.net/Nuclearpower/TheRisksOfNuclearPower}}</ref> Coal-burning plants, in particular, produce large amounts of toxic and mildly radioactive ash resulting from the concentration of [[naturally occurring radioactive material]]s in coal.<ref>{{cite journal |date=2007-12-13 |title=Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste |journal=Scientific American |access-date=2012-09-11 |archive-date=2013-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612103809/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2008 report from [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]] concluded that coal power actually results in more radioactivity being released into the environment than nuclear power operation, and that the population [[effective dose equivalent]] from radiation from coal plants is 100 times that from the operation of nuclear plants.<ref name="colmain">{{cite web |author=Gabbard |first=Alex |date=2008-02-05 |title=Coal Combustion: Nuclear Resource or Danger |url=http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205103749/http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html |archive-date=February 5, 2007 |access-date=2008-01-31 |publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory}}</ref> Although coal ash is much less radioactive than spent nuclear fuel by weight, coal ash is produced in much higher quantities per unit of energy generated. It is also released directly into the environment as [[fly ash]], whereas nuclear plants use shielding to protect the environment from radioactive materials.<ref name="cejournal">{{cite journal |date=2008-12-31 |title=Coal ash is ''not'' more radioactive than nuclear waste |url= http://www.cejournal.net/?p=410 |journal=CE Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827045039/http://www.cejournal.net/?p=410 |archive-date=2009-08-27 }}</ref>

Nuclear waste volume is small compared to the energy produced. For example, at [[Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station]], which generated 44 billion [[kilowatt hours]] of electricity when in service, its complete spent fuel inventory is contained within sixteen casks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yankeerowe.com/ |title=Yankee Nuclear Power Plant |publisher=Yankeerowe.com |access-date=2013-06-22 |archive-date=2006-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060303073110/http://www.yankeerowe.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is estimated that to produce a lifetime supply of energy for a person at a western [[standard of living]] (approximately 3{{nbsp}}[[GWh]]) would require on the order of the volume of a [[soda can]] of [[low enriched uranium]], resulting in a similar volume of spent fuel generated.<ref name="Generation Atomic">{{cite web|url=https://www.generationatomic.org/why-nuclear|title=Why nuclear energy|work=Generation Atomic|date=26 January 2021|access-date=22 December 2018|archive-date=23 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223073651/https://www.generationatomic.org/why-nuclear|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="npr.org">{{cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125740818 | title=NPR Nuclear Waste May Get A Second Life | work=NPR | access-date=2018-12-22 | archive-date=2018-12-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223030055/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125740818 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hypertextbook.com/facts/1998/TommyZhou.shtml|title=Energy Consumption of the United States - The Physics Factbook|website=hypertextbook.com|access-date=2018-12-22|archive-date=2018-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223073750/https://hypertextbook.com/facts/1998/TommyZhou.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Waste disposal ====
{{See also|List of radioactive waste treatment technologies}}
[[File:WIPP-04.jpeg|alt=Storage of radioactive waste at WIPP|thumb|[[nuclear flask|Nuclear waste flasks]] generated by the United States during the Cold War are stored underground at the [[Waste Isolation Pilot Plant]] (WIPP) in [[New Mexico]]. The facility is seen as a potential demonstration for storing spent fuel from civilian reactors.]]
Following interim storage in a [[spent fuel pool]], the bundles of used fuel rod assemblies of a typical nuclear power station are often stored on site in [[dry cask storage]] vessels.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/dry-cask-storage.html |title=NRC: Dry Cask Storage |publisher=Nrc.gov |date=2013-03-26 |access-date=2013-06-22 |archive-date=2013-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602195818/http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/dry-cask-storage.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Presently, waste is mainly stored at individual reactor sites and there are over 430 locations around the world where radioactive material continues to accumulate.

Disposal of nuclear waste is often considered the most politically divisive aspect in the lifecycle of a nuclear power facility.<ref name=mont2011>Montgomery, Scott L. (2010). ''The Powers That Be'', University of Chicago Press, p. 137.</ref> The lack of movement of nuclear waste in the 2 billion year old [[natural nuclear fission reactor]]s in [[Oklo]], [[Gabon]] is cited as "a source of essential information today."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.efn.org.au/NucWaste-Comby.pdf |title= international Journal of Environmental Studies, The Solutions for Nuclear waste, December 2005 |access-date= 2013-06-22 |archive-date= 2013-04-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130426083758/http://www.efn.org.au/NucWaste-Comby.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/factsheets/doeymp0010.shtml |title=Oklo: Natural Nuclear Reactors |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Yucca Mountain Project, DOE/YMP-0010|date=November 2004 |access-date=2009-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825013752/http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/factsheets/doeymp0010.shtml |archive-date=2009-08-25 }}</ref> Experts suggest that centralized underground repositories which are well-managed, guarded, and monitored, would be a vast improvement.<ref name=mont2011 /> There is an "international consensus on the advisability of storing nuclear waste in [[deep geological repository|deep geological repositories]]".<ref name=go /> With the advent of new technologies, other methods including [[horizontal drillhole disposal]] into geologically inactive areas have been proposed.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste in Deep Horizontal Drillholes|date=May 29, 2019|journal=Energies|doi=10.3390/en12112052|last1=Muller|first1=Richard A.|last2=Finsterle|first2=Stefan|last3=Grimsich|first3=John|last4=Baltzer|first4=Rod|last5=Muller|first5=Elizabeth A.|last6=Rector|first6=James W.|last7=Payer|first7=Joe|last8=Apps|first8=John|volume=12|issue=11|page=2052|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The State of the Science and Technology in Deep Borehole Disposal of Nuclear Waste|date=February 14, 2020|journal=Energies|doi=10.3390/en13040833|last1=Mallants|first1=Dirk|last2=Travis|first2=Karl|last3=Chapman|first3=Neil|last4=Brady|first4=Patrick V.|last5=Griffiths|first5=Hefin|volume=13|issue=4|page=833|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[File:Alpha-Gamma Hot Cell Facility 001.jpg|thumb|Most waste packaging, small-scale experimental fuel recycling chemistry and [[radiopharmaceutical]] refinement is conducted within remote-handled [[hot cell]]s.]]
There are no commercial scale purpose built underground high-level waste repositories in operation.<ref name="go">{{cite book |last=Gore |first=Al |url=https://archive.org/details/ourchoiceplantos00gore/page/165 |title=Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis |date=2009 |publisher=Rodale |isbn=978-1-59486-734-7 |location=Emmaus, Pennsylvania |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ourchoiceplantos00gore/page/165 165–166] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url= http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-nuclear-renaissance&print=true| archive-url= https://archive.today/20120915104757/http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-nuclear-renaissance&print=true| archive-date= 2012-09-15| title= A Nuclear Power Renaissance?| date= 2008-04-28| magazine= [[Scientific American]]| access-date= 2008-05-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | url= http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=rethinking-nuclear-fuel-recycling | title= Nuclear Fuel Recycling: More Trouble Than It's Worth | last= von Hippel | first= Frank N. | author-link= Frank N. von Hippel | date= April 2008 | magazine= Scientific American | access-date= 2008-05-15 | archive-date= 2008-11-19 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081119112436/http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=rethinking-nuclear-fuel-recycling | url-status= live }}</ref> However, in Finland the [[Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository]] of the [[Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant]] was under construction as of 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR-Licence-granted-for-Finnish-used-fuel-repository-1211155.html|title=Licence granted for Finnish used fuel repository|date=2015-11-12|website=World Nuclear News|access-date=2018-11-18|archive-date=2015-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124025533/http://world-nuclear-news.org/WR-Licence-granted-for-Finnish-used-fuel-repository-1211155.html|url-status=live}}</ref>