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Nuclear Waste Disposal
For over the last half century, the production and exploit of nuclear technology has spread into many areas of the current modern society and affects each individual in one way or another. Nuclear technology has become relevant in areas of the advancement of energy production, national defense, and also the medicinal field as well. But, along with the use of nuclear technology comes an added burden: nuclear waste. As defined, “Nuclear waste is the type of waste that results from the use and production of nuclear materials. As nuclear materials are produced and use up, one by-product of the process is a large amount of dangerous chemical elements.” In short, nuclear wastes are generated from spent nuclear fuel, dismantled weapons, and other products which many include the most dangerous chemical element, plutonium. As nuclear energy is being a more reliable source, we must find a way to properly dispose of it just like any other energy waste.
The most important design item that we must consider in storage of nuclear waste lies in the shielding of its radiation. Currently, nuclear waste is stored in specially-designed, water-filled basins or dry casks at commercial power reactor sites or at one away-from-reactor storage facilities in 43 different states.. But as these are only temporary, The Bush Administration and the U.S Department of Energy have proposed a design for a permanent waste disposal which will place steel canisters containing the spent fuel to be stored within other steel canisters and buried horizontally in chambers 300 meters below the earth’s surface. In February of 2002, President Bush chose the site of Yucca Mountain (90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada) as the place to...
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...ng methods to solve this problem. Hopefully efforts will be successful and the world will have one less worry in its already huge human waste disposal dilemma.
Works Cited
1. Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 49. “International Nuclear Waste Disposal
Concepts.” http://www.uic.com.au/nip49.htm. 2/3/2005
2. “Nuclear Waste: Storage and Disposal Methods.”
http://www.etsu.edu/writing/3120f99/zctb3/nuclear2.htm
3. Natural Resources Defense Council. “EPA loses Yucca Mountain court case.”
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/articles/br_1688.asp?t=t
4. Environmental Media Services. “Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Storage and
Transport.” http://www.ems.org/nuclear/yucca_mountain.html
5. Brongers, Michiel P.H. “Nuclear Waste Storage.” Chem.480, April 6, 2002,
www.utm.edu/departments/artsci/chemistry/NUwaste.htm
One of the biggest and longest lasting environmental impacts of the detonation of the atomic bomb is the radiation contaminations that are left over. These contaminations spread into water, air, animals, soil and into the atmosphere. What’s worse is that these contaminations have materials that have very long half-life meaning that their radiation effects do not decay quickly. “Many of the substances released, including plutonium, uranium, strontium, cesium, benzene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury and cyanide, are carcinogenic and/or mutagenic and remain hazardous for thousands, some for hundreds of thousands, of year” (The Effects of nuclear weapons). The spread of these contaminates will cause significant health risks to animals ca...
...her damage that can be caused by nuclear waste. One possible solution is to further research the recycling of radioactive materials. In the United States, research in this area of nuclear waste recycling has not been tested to its greatest potential.
One of the most talked about opposition toward nuclear fission is the radioactive waste it produces. A radioactive waste is what is left behind after using a reactor to make electricity. There are two levels of waste, low and high, but both are regulated by the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. High level waste is made up of fuel that’s been used directly in the reactor that is highly radioactive but can still be disposed. Low level waste is the contaminated items that have been exposed to radiation. The nuclear wastes are then stored in a safe and secure location with different types of methods such as wet storage, dry storage, and away from reactor storage. Wet storage is the main method of disposing the waste because it is the
In addition to the potential dangers of accidents in generating stations, nuclear waste is a continuing problem that is growing exponentially. Nuclear waste can remain radioactive for about 600 years and disposing these wastes or storing them is an immense problem. Everyone wants the energy generated by power plants, but no one wants to take responsibility for the waste. Thus far, it is stored deep in the earth, but these storage areas are potentially dangerous and will eventually run out. Some have suggested sending the waste into space, but no one is sure of the repercussions.
There are many different types of radioactive waste, but the two major types are “low-level waste” and “high-level waste” (“Radioactive Waste Management”). There are a few different ways that we can store these wastes depending on what level they are. The low-level waste mainly comes from medical facilities or some type of industry (“Radioactive Waste Management”). In order to dispose of the low level wastes, they are usually placed in a radioactive waste material storage bin and stored at the hospital or site that they were produced at (“Radioactive Waste Production”). There are only a few sites that will actually take the low level wastes and store them in the United States. However, they will only take specific types of this low level waste and will only allow the wastes from certain permitted states (“Radioactive Waste Production”). The low-level wastes can also be disposed of by being placed ...
Since the dawn of civilization, all living (and some non-living) things have needed energy. When humans discovered fire, the first form of harnessed energy, it made it easier to stay warm, prepare food, make weapons, etc. Since then, humankind has been inventing new ways to harness energy and use it to our advantage. Now-a-days, people in most nations depend extremely heavily on fossil fuels – to work, travel, regulate temperature of homes, produce food, clothing, and furniture, as well as other power industries. Not only are these fossil fuels dominating our society and creating economic vulnerability, but they also produce waste that causes a number of social and environmental concerns. The waste from these fuels leads to acid rain, smog, and climate change. It also releases sulfur dioxide as well as other air pollutants that are very harmful to the human respiratory system (Morris, 1999, p. ix). There are other alternative sustainable energy sources including solar, hydroelectric, wind, and biomass. However, the main source aside from fossil fuel is nuclear energy from controlled nuclear reactions (where nuclei of radioisotopes become stable or nonradioactive by undergoing changes) in a nuclear power plant. Nuclear power produces enormous amounts of energy to serve a community. Unfortunately, nuclear energy has its own set of problems – a big one being its waste. The spent fuel from nuclear plants is radioactive. This means that it emits radiation, or penetrating rays and particles emitted by a radioactive source. Ionizing radiation is known to cause cancer, and therefore makes anyone who lives near spent nuclear waste facilities vulnerable to this incurable disease. The disposal of nuclear waste is a global issue...
This act must be abolished or altered to proceed with any construction of a waste facility. Furthermore, the federal government must be informed and approve the construction of such a structure. However, these setbacks can be remedied and do not stop the possibility of hosting such a nuclear waste disposal facility. A benefit that may not be evident can have the possibility of saving money by generating electricity from other countries waste by the construction of a nuclear power
Since the end of the World War II, nuclear energy has been one of the most potent forces on the planet. Nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers dominate the oceans and nuclear power plants provide nearly 20% of the nation’s power supply (Bayh & Gregg, 2014). All of this nuclear production produces tremendous amounts of nuclear waste. This waste must be disposed of safely, creating a problem for scientists and politicians for decades to come.
In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that Americans generated 250 million tons of municipal solid waste, MSW1, of which only 87 million tons were recycled or composted (“Municipal Solid Waste”, 1). This value, however, does not represent the total amount waste generated by the United States since MSW only accounts for 2 percent of total waste generated. As more trash is generated, space to construct more landfills becomes an issue. In order to reduce the amount of solid waste produced, the federal government must implement and enforce a new waste disposal method that emphasizes composting food waste.
With that being said, there are always a few crucial components that are going to be missing from a film. In particular, it was stated in the film that there has not been a single death from the construction of commercial nuclear energy in the United States. Even though this may be true, it only stated commercial nuclear energy so it does not account for potential deaths in military energy plants. Additionally, we are all bathed in radioactivity, so radiation is not dangerous in an everyday sense. The problem I have with this statement is that an exact number of the amount of radiation we take in every day was not given in this film. I understand that it is different amounts in different areas in the world and increases with altitude, however, we should have an exact number available. It was also said that the spent fuel is reused again and again until the end of plant life. Even though the spent fuel is reused many times, it is only used until it is still fissionable and once it is not fissionable it becomes waste so it is never completely used. Lastly, Yucca mountain was an experiment to store nuclear waste for tens of thousands of years. The problem with this experiment is that we do not know what the future will be like that far away and we do not want people in the future to
Nuclear energy is not as beneficial to the environment as one may think. Nuclear energy does not burn anything in order to create energy. However, the problem is not in that aspect, but rather the fact that we do not have a way to get rid of the nuclear waste. According to Amanda Beckrich, there is currently no full proof solution to the long-term storage of the radioactive products used in the development of nuclear energy. Materials used in the nuclear process include isotopes of uranium, plutonium, iodine and strontium (Beckrich 10). All of these materials are radioactive and dangerous if exposed to society. When radioactive products are spilled or exposed into society, the consequences can be detrimental. People who are exposed to high doses of radiation will most likely face serious consequences. The United States Environmental Protection Agency states that people will likely face a number of different health problems varying on the amount they have been exposed to. Some possible major health effects include cancer, internal bleeding, damage to the central nervous system and death (“Radiation Protection: Health Effects”). With these outcomes being possible, there is not a justifiable answer to this problem.
rate. A half-life can be less than a second or can be thousands of years long.
...far into the future as possible until it becomes a burden to the current generation and that any perceived benefits gained by those future generations cannot be measure. With that in mind, burying the nuclear waste in Yucca mountain is simply too risky given natural condition, which is why the aboveground storage and passing on to future generations method is best suited for the overall benefit of mankind and the enviroment. This can only hold true if each generation commits to not only contributing towards the safe containment of the radioactive waste, but also encourages the next generation to do the same. Actions taken today with good intentions for the future can still yield negative results in that future. But, with this method, small incremental improvements can be taken over time and not burden one generation with the welfare of all generations after it.
The greatest disadvantages of nuclear energy are the risks posed to mankind and the environment by radioactive materials. ‘On average a nuclear plant annually generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel cla...
Traditional methods of waste disposal have proven to be ineffective and have caused harmful effects on the environment. The most popular and inexpensive way to get rid of garbage is burial, but burying your problems does not necessarily mean getting rid of them. Landfill sites pose as severe ecological threats as these mass garbage dump yards overflow with trash and frequently contaminate our air, soil and water with hazardous wastes. About 400 million tons of hazardous wastes are generated each year1. A large-scale release of these materials can cause thousands of deaths and may poison the environment for many years. For example many industrial companies around the world cannot afford to enforce the strict pollution regulations set by many developed countries. This usually forces these types of companies to move to developing countries where pollution regulations are very lenient. These developing countries knowingly accept environmentally hazardous companies usually because they are in desperate need of employment. The harmful effects of these companies were clearly illustrated in the 1960s and 1970s when residents living near Minamata Bay, Japan, developed nervous disorders, tremors, and paralysis in a mysterious epidemic. The root was later found to be a local industry that had released mercury, a highly toxic element, into Minamata Bay. The disaster had claimed the lives of 400 people1. Since 1970 you can bet that a lot more than 400 people have died as a result of waste disposal. If the type of waste disposal were cheaper and effective we wouldn’t have to deal with waste problems, which still plague mankind today.