Nuclear Waste- A tougher problem to handleby | 18-05-2017 01:59 |
|---|
 The term 'Nuclear' refers to the incidents that are related to nucleus like making radioisotopes, different nuclear reactions such as nuclear fission, nuclear fusion etc. Using nuclear technology people have taken the world into a new level where so many problems have been solved efficiently. Nuclear technologies are playing role in producing energy, electricity, increasing genetic variations, in food and agriculture area, medical area, industrial area etc. For example, to ensure food sustainability, nuclear technologies are used in agriculture by controlling insect, inspecting the consumption of fertilizer for proper fertilizer management etc. In medical area, radioisotopes are used in therapy, detecting tumor, studying heart, liver, bone structure etc, stopping the cancer cells and so on. Besides nuclear technologies are used to sterilize different kinds of sensitive materials in industries and hospitals. Food preservation also needs nuclear technology widely. Using it spoilage of foods has been reduced to a great extent. On the other hand, with the help of Nuclear Hydrology Technique we can trace out the location of ground water, we can find interconnections between ground and surface water and find out the answers of many questions related to water resources. There are also so many small uses of nuclear technologies that made our life easier. Now let's come to Nuclear Waste. With the increasing use of nuclear technologies, nuclear waste has become a gigantic problem for us. This problem has held a strong position because its effect is long-lasting, harmful and hard to control. High-level wastes make just 3% of the total volume of waste arising from nuclear generation, but they contain 95% of the radioactivity arising from nuclear power. Low-level wastes represent 90% of the total volume of radioactive wastes, but contain only 1% of the radioactivity . Mainly the nuclear wastes are produced from nuclear power plants. The most significant high-level waste from a nuclear reactor is the used nuclear fuel left after it has spent about three years in the reactor generating heat for electricity. Low-level waste is made up of lightly-contaminated items like tools and work clothing from power plant operation and makes up the bulk of radioactive wastes. Items disposed of as intermediate-level wastes might include used filters, steel components from within the reactor and some effluents from reprocessing. Nuclear power is not the only industry that creates radioactive wastes. Other industries include medicine, particle and space research, oil and gas, and mining - to name just a few. Some of these materials are not produced inside a reactor, but rather are concentrated forms of naturally occurring radioactive material. It is a long-term duty to manage and store the nuclear wastes properly and safely. It needs high-level expertise, advanced technologies and of course well-trained and responsible workers to manage nuclear wastes properly. Otherwise it will turn out to be a huge problem not only for this generation but also for the next generation. A glimpse of managing nuclear wastes is given below. Used nuclear fuel is very hot and radioactive. Handling and storing it safely can be done as long as it is cooled and plant workers are shielded from the radiation it produces by a dense material like concrete or steel, or by a few metres of water. Water can conveniently provide both cooling and shielding, so a typical reactor will have its fuel removed underwater and transferred to a storage pool. After about five years it can be transferred into dry ventilated concrete containers, but otherwise it can safely remain in the pool indefinitely - usually for up to 50 years. Nuclear Technology is undoubtedly a huge potential to meet the needs of this huge population. But before implementing any kind of industries that will run on nuclear technologies the management of nuclear wastes should be the top priority. Otherwise it wont take much time to destroy a healthy mankind. |
