Table of Contents
Disposal
The final step in the management of nuclear waste, disposal is to safely place radioactive material into a facility from which it is never designed to be recovered.
How can nuclear waste be disposed of?
Disposal methods vary with waste classification – essentially the level of radioactivity, and how quickly this decays.
Where is disposal of LLW carried out?
Low-Level Waste (LLW) accounts for about 90% of all nuclear waste generated.
Once enclosed in suitable packaging, LLW is straightforward to dispose of. Therefore, around the world, LLW can be and is disposed of via near-surface disposal methods – at ground level, or in caves just below ground.
What happens in the UK?
What happens in the UK?
Where is disposal of ILW and HLW carried out?
The remainder of radioactive waste is either Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW) or High-Level Waste (HLW). In either case, interim storage is required, to allow radioactivity to decay somewhat, before the waste is suitable for disposal.
- Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW) is typically transferred to a dry store for interim storage until its radioactivity has decayed enough that the waste can be recategorised as Low Level Waste (LLW).
- High-Level Waste (HLW), continuing to generate heat, is initially stored within a cooling pond - usually on the reactor or reprocessing site. Once sufficiently cool, this is then transferred to a dry store, pending final disposal.
Deep Geological Disposal
Given the long timescales over which HLW remains radioactive, the preferred method of disposal is deep underground, within stable geological formations – known as a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). A GDF must have:
Multiple Barriers
Multiple Barriers
No Maintenance
No Maintenance
Protection
Protection
What happens in the UK?
What happens in the UK?
What happens elsewhere?
What happens around the world?
Adam Piatt
Finland’s plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100,000 years, BBC Future Planet
Geological Disposal – a programme like no other, Gov.UK
Graduate Awareness in Nuclear (GAIN) Course, NSAN
Introduction to Geological Disposal, Nuclear Waste Services
Scotland’s higher-activity radioactive waste policy, Scottish Government
Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Waste, World Nuclear Association
