Nuclear Waste

Charles Goek Cher Jun (5)

Arnold Tan An (2)

Darius Quek Yu Kai (8)

Jediel Yew Shen (11)

Nuclear Energy Production

Contents of waste

• Mainly unconverted Uranium
• Plutonium
• Curium

Classification of Nuclear Waste 

Treatment for nuclear waste leak

• Nuclear radioactivity diminishes over long periods of time through many processes of half lives.
• Hence, if stored for long periods of time the nuclear radioactivity would slowly diminish to a insignificant amount that is not relatively harmful.

Waste Management

• Spent fuel pool
• Dry cask storage
• Deep geological repository

Spent fuel pool

• Storage pools for spent nuclear fuel
• Spent nuclear fuel has high temperatures
• Water in the pool cools the nuclear fuel
• Nuclear fuel cools in the pool for 10-20 years before reprocessing or disposal

Dry cask storage

• Steel cylinder above-ground that stores cooled nuclear fuel
• Provides leak-tight containment of spent fuel
• Concrete vault provide radiation shielding

Deep geological repository

• Nuclear waste repository
• Located deep underground (below 300m)
• Long-term isolation of nuclear waste
• Storage without maintenance

Impact of waste on environment

• Mutation eg. trees, land and sea creatures
• Acid rain
• Contamination of water sources and land

Impacts on people

• Lifestyles affected
• Mutations
• Mass death

Case Study

Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

Background Information

• 11 March 2011
• Meltdown of 3 nuclear reactors
• Failure occurred when nuclear plant was hit by tsunami
• Tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake

Relief Efforts

• Cooling the reactors with recirculated and decontaminated water
• Evacuation and sheltering for areas within 20 km zone
• Waste will undergo final disposal in 30 years time
• Costs 1 trillion yen