Question by blixfix: Is there a safe way to recycle nuclear waste?
or it is an impossibility
Best answer:
Answer by Shaun S
Yeah, just get Superman to gather up all the nuclear waste in a giant net and toss it into the sun just like he did in Superman 4
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Yes. The French have a system that can recover 90% of waste nuclear material for reuse. What is left over is encased in glass and buried somewhere. The down side is that the 10% waste is even more dangerous that what they start with.
Yes! Generation IV reactors can actually use the high level nuclear waste to make power. Several designs including the LFTR and the traveling wave reactor use nuclear high level “waste” as fuel. The French already reprocess their fuel into new fuel for current reactors reducing the volume of their waste and vitrify what is left over and store it at La Hague. There is also a combined fission-fusion design which looks promising.
It’s called leaving it alone for along time. Every radioactive object has a halflife. and once it reaches it, it isn’t radioactive anymore.
You can reprocess some of it but it is not always cost effective.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reprocessing
There already is a repository for nuclear waste, its in Yucca Mountain, NV. We spent $9 BILLION to develop it, but its use is being held up by Harry Reid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca_Mountain_nuclear_waste_repository
drop it on north caria
Geologic Repository
Most scientists agree that the best solution for disposing of nuclear waste is burying it deep in the earth. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 asserts that society is responsible for the safe disposal of hazard nuclear material. To this end, the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency have commissioned Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as their prime candidate for long-term disposal. At this site, nuclear waste from industry and military use will be received, packaged and stored deep under ground. In June 2008, the Department of Energy submitted an application to begin building the Yucca Mountain facility. However, in 2009, a new administration has halted this plan and instead called for more research into alternatives strategies for disposing of nuclear waste.
Storage
Low-level nuclear waste consists of materials used to handle high level radioactive parts and medical waste from radioactive and X-ray procedures. These materials are generally stored while their radioactive isotopes decay. After a period of about 50 years, this nuclear waste is believed to be safe for conventional disposal. Storage is a short-term solution for nuclear waste problems. Most nuclear plants store used nuclear fuel in large steel-lined concrete pools filled with water. This system keeps the radioactive material shielded, cooled and closely monitored. However, space is becoming more limited. The spent nuclear fuel must eventually make its way to a long-term repository. In 1998, federal law mandated that the Department of Energy begin transporting this nuclear waste to more permanent facilities.
Recycling
Used nuclear fuel rods can be disposed of by recycling the unused fuel inside. However, the federal government does not recycle nuclear waste for security and economic reasons. Government agencies are exploring new recycling technologies that will redistribute used nuclear fuel but still have no definite plan in effect. The nuclear industry supports this method of nuclear waste disposal as cost effective and environmentally beneficial. The separated uranium can be reused as new fuel for commercial power plants and the more long-lived radioactive elements can be used for nuclear research. This is referred to as a closed fuel system. There are some drawbacks to this method of disposal. In fact, even after recycling, some nuclear waste would have to be permanently disposed of in a repository. Recycling would result in reduced toxicity, volume, and heat of used nuclear waste but is still not the final answer on nuclear waste disposal.
Read more: Best Way – Ways to Dispose of Nuclear Waste | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5332363_ways-dispose-nuclear-waste.html#ixzz0sy24SI6b
no.
it is extremely dangerous, and will be for thousands of years.
it can be reprocessed and used in a power plant again.
when that’s done, you get more energy from the same original material.
in addition, the residue is still dangerous, but the length of time, still in the thousands of years, is shorter than that of material that has not been reprocessed.
Edit: If you get a chance, watch July 6 Charlie Rose. Part of it is about exactly this topic.
i don’t know…. but lets start never making it.