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The Future of Nuclear Waste Management, Storage, and Disposal

The Future of Nuclear Waste Management, Storage, and Disposal. Thanassi Lefas 26 November 2008 ChE 359 Energy Technology and Policy. Road Map. Identify importance of nuclear waste management Define nuclear waste Identify health risks Discuss initial treatments of waste options

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The Future of Nuclear Waste Management, Storage, and Disposal

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  1. The Future of Nuclear Waste Management, Storage, and Disposal Thanassi Lefas 26 November 2008 ChE 359 Energy Technology and Policy

  2. Road Map • Identify importance of nuclear waste management • Define nuclear waste • Identify health risks • Discuss initial treatments of waste options • Vitrification • Ion Exchange • Discuss permanent disposal of waste options • Geological Repositories • Deep Boreholes • Separation and Transmutation • Space Disposal • Conclusions/Recommendations

  3. Importance of Nuclear Waste Management • Nuclear power carbon free energy source • Currently limited by economics, safety, and technology • Clear limiting factor, lack of permanent disposal • Growth of nuclear capacity will require development of permanent disposal options • Critical considerations • Safety • Security

  4. Nuclear Waste • Composed of radionuclides • Low, Medium, and High-level waste • High-level waste produced in nuclear reactors • Consists of • Fission products (short-half lives) • Actinides (long-half lives) • Of note: 99Tc, 129I, 239Pu, 240Pu, 235U, 238U

  5. Health Risks • Somatic Effects • Cancer • Genetic Effects • Hereditary Genetic Damage • Teratogenic Effects • Birth defects • Prenatal death

  6. Vitrification/Ion Exchange • Purpose • Prevent reaction or degradation of waste for extended period of time • Vitrification • Combine waste with molten glass, harden to form new solid • Ion Exchange • Combine with chemical to concentrate waste and encase in cement

  7. Geological Repositories • Isolate High-level nuclear waste • Waste Package • Engineered Seals • Natural Bedrock • Sites w/ appropriate Hydrological and Geochemical environments • Low solubility and mobility of radionuclides • In United States, Yucca Mountain north of Las Vegas

  8. Deep Boreholes • Similar concept to basic geological repositories • Kilometers deep rather than hundreds of meters • Provide Further isolation from ground water • More potential borehole locations around the globe • Can be created in many cases close to power plants • Not subject to tectonic, volcanic, and seismic interference

  9. Separation & Transmutation • Long-lived isotopes extracted from nuclear waste and destroyed • Removal of long-lived isotopes • opens up more repository options • reduces thermal load on repositories, thereby increasing their capacity • destroys plutonium, ensuring that it can’t be recovered and used for nuclear weapons

  10. Space Disposal • Removes the waste from the biosphere entirely • High risk of space vehicle failure • High energy cost of space launch • Relatively limited volume per launch • High cost

  11. Conclusions/Recommendations • Optimization of ion exchange • Results in compact form of waste that will not interact with biosphere • Research and Pursuit of Deep Boreholes • Further development of deep boreholes that are more reliable are an ideal option • Reasonable Cost • Global availability • Human Safety

  12. Thanks

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