Attainment of Radiation Equivalency in Nuclear Power Radioactive Product Management

Abstract

The conditions for future progress in Russian nuclear power include increasing the safety of reactors and of radioactive waste management. The principal proposals regarding radiation equivalent disposal of radioactive waste are as follows:1. extraction of long-lived radioactive decay products from ore together with uranium2. extraction of such actinides as neptunium, americium, and curium and of strontium and cesium from fuel during chemical reprocessing so that they can be used for useful purposes3. long-term controlled storage of radioactive waste in near-surface depositories.It takes ∼400 yr of controlled cooling for the activity of buried radioactive waste to reach radiation equivalency with the activity of uranium naturally occurring in the earth, assuming a natural uranium consumption level of ∼100 t/G W(electric). yr, and it takes ∼200 yr for strontium and cesium extracted from radioactive waste.In the limiting case of complete uranium burning and the consumption of ∼1 t natural uranium/GW(electric)·yr, to reach radiation equivalency, additional measures may be needed before burial of the radioactive waste, such as more complete extraction of actinides during chemical reprocessing of fuel, improvement of the physical and chemical forms of the radioactive waste packages, an increase in the duration of controlled storage to ∼500yr, and possibly, 129I and 99Tc transmutation.