What Are the Best Waste Solutions?

Nuclear waste treatment refers to the use of a variety of treatment technologies to dispose of nuclear fuel production, processing, and spent radioactive waste that is no longer needed.

Nuclear waste material refers to useless materials that are used in nuclear fuel production, processing, or nuclear reactors and that contain alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, which are unstable, and are accompanied by heat. Nuclear waste contains a certain amount of radioactivity, which can affect the division and growth of living cells and even kill cells. After nuclear waste enters the environment, it can enter the human body through breathing, diet, skin contact, etc. When radioactive radiation exceeds a certain level, it can damage the body's health. Studies have shown that people who have been contaminated with radiation for many years have a much higher incidence of cancer, cataracts, blindness, stunted growth, and reduced fertility.

In addition, if mothers are exposed to x-rays in the abdomen during early pregnancy, their children may have genetic effects such as fetal malformations, miscarriages and stillbirths. Compared with children whose mothers are not exposed to x-rays, the probability of death from leukemia is higher 50% bigger. Therefore, nuclear waste is extremely harmful.

Nuclear waste is a substance that contains or is contaminated with radionuclides. The concentration or activity of radionuclides is greater than the level of cleanliness and control determined by the regulatory authority and is no longer expected to be used. Departments and sites that produce, use, and operate radioactive materials can all generate nuclear waste, and their basic sources are sevenfold:

(1) Uranium, thorium mines, water smelters, refineries, enrichment plants, thorium metallurgical plants, fuel element processing plants, etc., also known as pretreatment plants and mines of the nuclear industry;

(2) Operation of various reactors (including nuclear power plants, nuclear-powered ships, nuclear-powered satellites, etc.);

(3) Industrial activities for spent fuel reprocessing;

(4) the process of nuclear waste treatment and disposal;

(5) Radioisotope production, application and application of nuclear technology, including

1. Radioactive. The radioactivity of nuclear waste cannot be eliminated by any physical, chemical and biological methods. It can only be reduced by its own decay, and its half-life is often thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands of years. That is, after hundreds of thousands of years! These nuclear wastes can also harm humans and the environment.

2. Radiation hazard. When the radiation emitted by nuclear waste passes through the material, ionization and excitation occur, which will cause radiation damage to the organism. And a considerable part of these rays have extremely strong penetrating power, and can even penetrate tens of centimeters thick concrete.

3. Thermal energy release. Radioactive nuclides in nuclear waste emit energy through decay. When the content of radionuclides is high, the released thermal energy will cause the temperature of nuclear waste to rise continuously, even the solution will boil on its own, and the solid will melt itself. For example, the core of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is This melts down.

Reform unreasonable process operations, prevent unnecessary pollution and carry out waste recycling;

Separate collection and treatment of the wastes that have been generated, and separate storage and treatment. The treatment methods require safety, economy, high purification efficiency and simplicity;

Minimize the volume as much as possible to save transportation, storage and handling costs;

When diluting and discharging to the environment, it shall be strictly controlled in accordance with the principles of "reasonable, feasible and as low as possible";

Store in the form of stable solidified body to reduce

Low- and medium-level radioactive waste does not contain or contains only very small amounts of long-lived transuranic nuclides. For example, the main nuclides to be considered in the waste of nuclear power plants are Sr-90 and Cs-137. Isolation for 300-600 years is enough to decay to a safe level. Therefore, compared with high-level radioactive waste, the technical requirements for low- and medium-level radioactive waste disposal are relatively low, but the quantity is huge and the disposal tasks are more onerous. At present, the disposal of low-level radioactive waste in foreign countries mainly adopts the method of burying in shallow strata, burying waste mines or caves.

Shallow burial is one of the most common disposal methods currently used abroad. Shallow burial generally involves neatly stacking waste in concrete structures, with gullies most common. Practices in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and Canada have shown that burial in shallow formations is simple and easy, with low investment, and is one of the most effective ways to dispose of low-level radioactive waste. The disposal of waste mines or caves is more common in European countries with small land areas and high population densities. Generally, the depth of the waste mine is large, and it has little impact on human activities and natural environment interference, and its safety is better. However, the mine is designed from the perspective of mining ore. The hydrogeological situation is complicated, and often there are cracks and groundwater. The original tunnels and caves are generally not suitable for burying waste, and can only be used after remediation and safety evaluation. Cave disposal is the use of natural or artificially excavated caves to bury low- and medium-level radioactive waste. The artificial cave is designed and constructed according to the disposal site standards and specifications. The cost is higher, but the safety is better. ^[2]