Nuclear Waste: Storage and Disposal Methods - The Diigo Meta page

• 08 Nov 10
  

  M MacKinnon

  Reference

• 03 Oct 07
  

  gcorrigan

  quickd

• 25 Sep 07
  

  mhendricks

  waste

  • "In the half century of the nuclear age, the U.S. has accumulated some 30,000 metric tons of spent fuel rods from power reactors and another 380,000 cubic meters of high-level radioactive waste, a by-product of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons.  None of these materials have found anything more than interim accomadation, despite decades of study and expenditures in the billions of dollars on research, development and storage," 
  • For over 40 years nuclear technology has spread into many areas of modern society, enabling advances in energy production, defense and medicine.  But along with the use of nuclear technology comes an added burden -- nuclear waste.  Nuclear waste is the type of waste that results from the use and production of nuclear materials.  As nuclear materials are produced and used up, one by-product of the process is a large amount of dangerous chemical elements.  Plutonium is the most dangerous of these and will therefore be the elemental topic of this discussion.  Plutonium is highly radioactive and has a half-life of 25,000 years (Bullen and McCormick 682).  This means that plutonium takes approximately 25,000 years to decay to half of its original potency.  The immediate and long-term threats of radioactivity include causing cancer or genetic damage in humans and animals; large amounts lead directly to radiation sickness and death ("Nuclear" 588).  Also, any form of plutonium may be fashioned into a very potent nuclear weapon; this poses a threat to the safety of humanity (if this nuclear waste were to fall into the wrong hands).  The stockpile of nuclear-grade plutonium continues to grow as the use of nuclear energy in its various forms is proliferated.  Hence, what is being done to stave off the possible negative effects of this valuable metal -- either the material for energy in the future or the stuff of nuclear weapons and potential environmental danger?

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