What is a radioactive waste? Any waste that contains radioactive materials is a radioactive waste. They are byproducts of a generation of nuclear energy, nuclear technology or nuclear fission and are dangerous to all living organisms and the environment.
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| What is a radioactive waste? |
From its external appearance, radioactive waste looks the same as the nuclear fuel that was loaded into the reactor. However, after nuclear reactions, the critical components of radioactive waste are smaller atoms called fission products.
These fission products encompass harmful radioactive isotopes with various elements such as alkali metals, halogens and even noble free gases. These elements in the waste are what make it remain radioactively dangerous staying in that state for thousands of years.
Any exposure to radioactive waste by any living organism leads to death caused by acute radiation sickness.
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The general composition of radioactive waste has been considered harmful to all living beings on the planet and the environment.
The wastes have a significant number of radionuclides that are atoms with an excess of nuclear energy that makes them unstable, and during the radioactive decay process they emit ionizing radiations that are extremely dangerous.
These isotopes of radionuclides emit various types of radiation at different levels that last for different periods of time and, as such, make it difficult for the scientist to find the perfect place for their elimination.
One of those radioactive elements of waste is plutonium 239, which remains highly dangerous for all human beings and living things for thousands of years.
Sources of radioactive waste
There are different sources of radioactive waste. In nations with various nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel treatment centers, a large volume of radioactive waste will be emitted from the nuclear fuel cycle and the processing of nuclear weapons.
There are other significant sources of this waste in addition to nuclear processing plants, such as industrial and medical wastes found throughout the world.
The processing of coal, gas and oil emits compounds that, when concentrated, lead to NORM (natural radioactive materials) widely recognized as a source of radioactive waste.
Classification
The classification of radioactive waste has been categorized according to nations.
Mill tail is one of the classifications of radioactive waste and usually contains some trace amounts of uranium and other compounds such as radium and thorium.
Tailings of uranium plants are the remaining waste compounds of the ore that contains uranium processing plants. Scientifically, it has been considered that they are not highly radioactive in nature.
The LLW (low level waste) is a classification of radioactive waste derived from the hospital and industry waste.
To this category are added papers, clothing and other items that contain extremely low amounts of radioactivity that have a short shelf life.
Prevention
Radioactive waste has more than 90% uranium, which is 90% unused fuel. Recycling this waste will lead to the generation of new energy and, therefore, will reduce the amount of waste on the planet.
This can occur when nuclear waste is chemically processed in a closed fuel cycle to prevent the emission of more waste and increase the extraction of clean energy.
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