Nuclear Waste
Kinds of Nuclear Waste
Nuclear waste is radioactive material that has no immediate use. In the United States nuclear waste generally is divided into two main categories: high-level nuclear waste (HLW) and low-level radioactive waste (LLW). Two less common categories are tailings from uranium mining and milling, and a special category derived from particular aspects of nuclear weapons production and defense-related activities. This latter, less commonly discussed, category is called defense wastes and, because of its makeup, is sometimes called transuranic wastes; it makes up about half of the HLW in the United States. This article focuses on HLW and LLW from nuclear power reactors.
HLW comprises most of the radioactivity associated with nuclear waste. Because that designation can cover radioactive waste from more than one source, the term spent nuclear fuel (SNF) will be used to discuss HLW originating from commercial nuclear reactors. LLW comprises nearly 90 percent of the volume of nuclear waste but little of the radioactivity. Nuclear power reactors produce SNF and most of the nation's LLW, although there are approximately 20,000 different sources of LLW. The name SNF is a bit of a misnomer because it implies that there is no useful material left in the fuel, when in fact some fissionable material is left in it.
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