Pages above:
Storage
Cooling ponds at Sellafield nuclear plant. These are used as temporary storage for nuclear waste.
Enlarge Image
The burial of radioactive materials is one touted solution to
radioactive waste disposal. WIPP in New Mexico, Yucca Mountain in
Nevada, Gorleben in Germany, proposed sites in the UK, Russia,
Australia and elsewhere are among the places where nuclear engineers
claim to have 'solved' the nuclear waste problem. However, at present,
there are no known disposal routes for long-lived radioactive
materials. The burial of these materials must not be confused with
their safe containment and isolation from the environment.
One of the most likely mechanisms of pollution in connection with waste disposal in rock is the contamination of groundwater. Underground waters may come into contact with radioactive elements that have leached out from the waste and contaminate the drinking water of both local and distant communities. This is already happening in France.
Then some favour storage the on-reactor-site fuel pools that often hold most of the high-level waste that has been generated by the reactor. Fuel pools were not designed for more than temporary storage. There are many hazards associated with fuel pools, including the potential for loss of coolant that could result in spontaneous combustion of the fuel, or in some circumstances, nuclear meltdown of the pool.
Until something safer is developed the only acceptable way to store radioactive materials is in on-site, above-ground, dry storage systems. These systems secure high-level waste from accidental or deliberate break-ins; keep the waste separate from people and the environment, preventing exposure and contamination; make it easy to monitor the waste over long periods; and make it easier and safer to access the waste if we invent better ways to manage it. This system is already used by some power stations, which keep their spent nuclear fuel rods in above-ground dry stores.
But of course, the only real solution is to stop creating the waste.
Find out more:
Remember that renewables are the future!
Read the Greenpeace UK's Environmental Principles of Radioactive Waste Management
Download our Nuclear Glossary.
One of the most likely mechanisms of pollution in connection with waste disposal in rock is the contamination of groundwater. Underground waters may come into contact with radioactive elements that have leached out from the waste and contaminate the drinking water of both local and distant communities. This is already happening in France.
Then some favour storage the on-reactor-site fuel pools that often hold most of the high-level waste that has been generated by the reactor. Fuel pools were not designed for more than temporary storage. There are many hazards associated with fuel pools, including the potential for loss of coolant that could result in spontaneous combustion of the fuel, or in some circumstances, nuclear meltdown of the pool.
Until something safer is developed the only acceptable way to store radioactive materials is in on-site, above-ground, dry storage systems. These systems secure high-level waste from accidental or deliberate break-ins; keep the waste separate from people and the environment, preventing exposure and contamination; make it easy to monitor the waste over long periods; and make it easier and safer to access the waste if we invent better ways to manage it. This system is already used by some power stations, which keep their spent nuclear fuel rods in above-ground dry stores.
But of course, the only real solution is to stop creating the waste.
Find out more:
Remember that renewables are the future!
Read the Greenpeace UK's Environmental Principles of Radioactive Waste Management
Download our Nuclear Glossary.
GREENPEACE EMAIL
Press releases
Nuclear expert warns of safety flaws in Areva’s reactor designNuclear expert warns of safety flaws in Areva’s reactor design
20 November 2009
Update: Nuclear madness reaches Finland
18 November 2009
Greenpeace: French Nuclear Madness won’t save the climate
16 November 2009
