The UK will build new nuclear power facilities in the coming decades. However, nuclear power is an integral part of our transition toward sustainable energy. A significant problem that has long been faced in the industry is radioactive waste hazardous to humans and the environment. Will nuclear waste be an environmental threat or an environmental promise?
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Nuclear power refers to the use nuclear reactions to create electricity. This is achieved through the processes of nuclear decay and nuclear fission. Most electricity generated by nuclear power plants comes from the nuclear fission or splitting of uranium and plutonium. In the nuclear reactor, electricity is produced using low-enriched Uranium fuel.
The UK’s electricity needs derive from about 7 Gigawatts (GW) of nuclear sources. Eight nuclear plants are currently in operation, providing j18.7 per cent of total electricity supply for 2018. The majority of nuclear plants will be retired by the middle of the next decade, to be replaced by a new generation. The government currently Plans for there to be a nuclear capacity of 24 GW by 2050 to provide approximately a quarter of the country’s electricity requirements.
Nuclear Power Safety is a Major Concern
Nuclear power is a clean and simple way to boil water to make steam. This steam turns turbines to generate electricity without the harmful byproducts of fossil fuels. It is therefore a clean, zero-emission energy source. Nuclear power is considered cleaner than fossil fuel production for greenhouse gas emissions. However, radioactive wastes such as graphite and used reactor fuel can pose a threat to the environment. These radioactive wastes pose a danger to human health for thousands of years.
It must be solid and resist leaching. The best methods to deal with the waste once it is stored are compaction and incineration. This is because the radioactive elements that can be combustible can be incinerated. This will reduce their volume. This has not overcome the waste’s hazards, as the radioactivity of the waste would remain, and become more concentrated as the volume is reduced.
Conditioning processes convert radioactive material into a form suitable for handling, storage, and disposal. To make the radioactive waste stable, solid and insoluble, there are two methods: vitrification and cementation.
The Low Level Waste would be immobilized in metal drums and boxes, to prevent contamination of the surrounding environment. In the past decades, since 1959, the majority of the UK’s Low Level Waste has been disposed at the Repository for Low-Level WasteCumbria. The waste was initially stored in trenches that resembled a landfill, but it is now stored in metal containers and vaults.
New waste management methods promise the future
One of the biggest challenges facing nuclear power is dealing with radioactive graphite. There have been over 300,000 tons of radioactive graphite waste in the UK and around 100,000 in the UK that are awaiting disposal in a Geological Disposal Facility.
Recent innovations offer new ways to monitor and deal with nuclear waste. In October 2021, the University of Manchester announced the news of a novel graphite treatment that could alleviate the UK’s nuclear waste burden.
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As illustrated in their Study published in Energy & Environmental Science, the team of scientists discovered a way of removing radioactivity from the waste and downgrading it from being ‘higher activity waste’ to a lower level that is easier to handle. The team uses electrolysis to convert the waste into a molten sodium substance, which makes it easier to remove the nuclear graphite isotopes. This decontamination technique could make it much faster and more economical to dispose off.
In a press statement PublishedBy the University of Manchester Prof. Abbie J., Chair in Nuclear Graphite said: “The UK nuclear industry has built all but one of its reactors (>40 in total) using graphite as core moderator material and structural components. These facilities will cease to be operational, resulting in graphite waste that is equivalent to 1300 double-decker buses ( 100,000 tons). As most of the advanced modular nuclear reactor technologies proposed for future low carbon energy production may also use nuclear graphite, technologies that can minimise the burden of this waste are vital.”
If we are successful in industrialising this technology, it could lead to up to £1 billion in savings for the UK taxpayer by reducing disposal costs for current graphite legacy wastes, as well as improved sustainability of advanced reactor technology where graphite will be deployed again.
Dr. Clint Sharrad is a Reader in Nuclear Decommissioning Engineering
Combining nuclear power with renewables is a winning strategy to make the green transition. Although radioactive waste has been a major obstacle to nuclear power becoming truly green, new research suggests that there is hope for a future in which sites can safely dispose of it.
References and Additional Reading
European Commission declares gas and nuclear to be green [Online]. DW. Available at: https://www.dw.com/en/european-commission-declares-nuclear-and-gas-to-be-green/a-60614990(Accessed April 20, 2022.
Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom [Online]. World Nuclear. Available at: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/united-kingdom.aspx (Accessed 20 April 2022.)
How do we handle radioactive waste? UK Inventory. Available at: https://ukinventory.nda.gov.uk/about-radioactive-waste/how-do-we-manage-radioactive-waste/(Accessed April 20, 2022.
Tatiana Grebennikova, Abbie N. Jones and Clint A. Sharrad. Electrochemical decontamination of irradiated nuclear graphite from corrosion and fission products using molten salt (2021). Energy & Environmental Science. Issue 10, 2021. Available at: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ee/d1ee00332a
Novel graphite treatment ‘could reduce UK nuclear waste burden’. University of Manchester. Available at: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/novel-treatment-technology-could-reduce-uk-nuclear-waste-burden/(Accessed April 20, 2022.
