List of nuclear waste treatment technologies
Encyclopedia
The following are most of the different possible methods of treating and disposing of nuclear waste:
Storage
Treatment
Storage
- Deep geological repositoryDeep geological repositoryA deep geological repository is a nuclear waste repository excavated deep within a stable geologic environment...
- Dry cask storageDry cask storageDry cask storage is a method of storing high-level radioactive waste, such as spent nuclear fuel that has already been cooled in the spent fuel pool for at least one year.. These casks are typically steel cylinders that are either welded or bolted closed. When inside, the fuel rods are surrounded...
- DucreteDucreteDUCRETE is a high density concrete alternative investigated for use in construction of casks for storage of radioactive waste...
- Ocean floor disposalOcean floor disposalOcean floor disposal is a method of sequestering radioactive waste in ocean floor sediment where it is unlikely to be disturbed either geologically or by human activity....
- SaltcreteSaltcreteSaltcrete is a mixture of cement with salts and brine, usually originating from liquid waste treatment plants. Its role is to immobilize hazardous waste and in some cases lower-level radioactive waste in the form of solid material. It is a form of mixed waste....
- Spent fuel poolSpent fuel poolSpent fuel pools are storage pools for spent fuel from nuclear reactors. They are typically 40 or more feet deep, with the bottom 14 feet equipped with storage racks designed to hold fuel assemblies removed from the reactor. A reactor's pool is specially designed for the reactor in which the...
- Spent nuclear fuel shipping caskSpent nuclear fuel shipping caskSpent nuclear fuel shipping casks are used to transport spent nuclear fuel used in nuclear power plants and research reactors to disposal sites such as the nuclear reprocessing center at COGEMA La Hague site...
(transportation) - SynrocSynrocSynroc, a portmanteau of "synthetic rock", is a means of safely storing radioactive waste. It was pioneered in 1978 by a team led by Dr Ted Ringwood at the Australian National University, with further research undertaken in collaboration with ANSTO at research laboratories in Lucas...
- Waste Isolation Pilot PlantWaste Isolation Pilot PlantThe Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository licensed to permanently dispose of transuranic radioactive waste for 10,000 years that is left from the research and production of nuclear weapons...
- Deep borehole disposalDeep borehole disposalDeep borehole disposal is the concept of disposing of high-level radioactive waste from nuclear reactors in extremely deep boreholes. Deep borehole disposal seeks to place the waste as much as five kilometers beneath the surface of the Earth and relies primarily on the thickness of the natural...
Treatment
- Nuclear transmutationNuclear transmutationNuclear transmutation is the conversion of one chemical element or isotope into another. In other words, atoms of one element can be changed into atoms of other element by 'transmutation'...