Nuclear waste, also known as radioactive waste, is disposed of to not harm nature, anyone, and anything because it is harmful. Electricity industries produce waste and therefore must be disposed of to safeguard the health of humans and lessen the impact of the environment. However, there are problems that come with the disposal of this waste and the importance of knowing these can benefit the environment and yourself. However, there are some solutions in the works as well.
Nuclear reactors make waste, but what exactly entails that waste? Other than it causing a rise in getting cancers and other horrifying health concerns, “[n]uclear waste is the material that nuclear fuel becomes after it is used in reactor” (whatisnuclear). For now, the waste is kept underwater for a few years because water is a good shield from preventing toxicity to anything and then it is shielded by concrete in large storage casks. There are other options for a final disposal like “deep geologic storage and recycling” (whatisnuclear).
It sounds like we have it under control, but there are still problems that this brings up. You would also think that we could reprocess it as a solution, but “[r]processing separates nuclear waste into component materials, including plutonium, which can then be re-used as nuclear reactor fuel – but also as the raw material for a nuclear weapon” (Nuclear Waste). So, re-processing the waste could risk terrorism, in other words.
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 was designed to dispose of nuclear waste and it was under the “U.S. Department of Energy’s responsibility for developing a geological repository. The law was amended in 2002 by the president and Congress” (NEI). So, there was an act to make it clearer to make it easier to dispose of, a well-known site for it, but “[a] decade and a half after that deadline, the search for a repository site has stalled, with no resolution likely in the near future” (Nuclear Waste).
