Some separated liquid HLW arises during reprocessing this is vitrified in glass and stored pending final disposal. Used fuel that is not intended for direct disposal may instead be reprocessed in order to recycle the uranium and plutonium it contains. The focus is on how and where to construct such facilities. The most widely favoured solution is deep geological disposal. Beyond storage, many options have been investigated which seek to provide publicly acceptable, safe, and environmentally sound solutions to the final management of radioactive waste. Storage of used fuel may be in ponds or dry casks, either at reactor sites or centrally. This means that for the majority (~90% by volume) of all of the waste types produced by nuclear technologies, a satisfactory disposal means has been developed and is being implemented around the world.įor used fuel designated as high-level radioactive waste (HLW), the first step is storage to allow decay of radioactivity and heat, making handling much safer. Most low-level radioactive waste (LLW) is typically sent to land-based disposal immediately following its packaging for long-term management.

Deep geological disposal is widely agreed to be the best solution for final disposal of the most radioactive waste produced.Storage of used fuel is normally under water for at least five years and then often in dry storage.Disposal of low-level waste is straightforward and can be undertaken safely almost anywhere.The radioactivity of the wastes decays with time, providing a strong incentive to store high-level waste for about 50 years before disposal.Radioactive wastes are stored so as to avoid any chance of radiation exposure to people, or any pollution.Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Waste

Nuclear time locations