Radioactive Waste (Oxford AQA IGCSE Physics)

Revision Note

Radioactive Waste

  • The products formed during nuclear reactions may also be radioactive

  • Some of these products may have a long half-life and so will remain radioactive for long periods of time

  • The biggest problem associated with using nuclear power for generating electricity is the waste that it produces

    • This is an important factor which influences the use of nuclear power

  • The waste comprises of the unusable fission products from the fission of uranium-235, plutonium-239, or from spent fuel rods

    • This is because each fission of a uranium-235 or plutonium-239 nucleus results in two smaller nuclei being produced

  • Unusable fission products are by far the most dangerous type of waste as they will remain radioactive for thousands of years due to their long half-life

    • These smaller (daughter) nuclei are both highly radioactive – more radioactive, in fact than the original fuel

  • As well as being highly radioactive, the spent fuel roads are extremely hot and must be handled and stored much more carefully than the other types of waste

  • Whilst the amount of waste produced (relative to the amount of energy generated) is fairly small, the waste is extremely dangerous

    • Therefore, the waste must be stored underground till it is no longer harmful

Storing nuclear waste underground

Radioactive waste being buried underground for IGCSE & GCSE Physics revision notes
Nuclear waste is stored underground whilst the fission products are still radioactive

Chernobyl nuclear disaster

  • Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is in Ukraine

  • In 1986 an incident at the plant caused an explosion

  • The explosion occurred during a safety test in which the control rods were removed

  • A large amount of radioactive material was released from the plant and went into the air

  • Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the surrounding area to protect them from being contaminated

  • An exclusion zone of around 2,600 square kilometres is still in place around the power plant

    • This is because the level of radiation in the area is still very high

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