Managing Radioactive Waste: Modern Solutions and Innovations
Modern Solutions for Radioactive Waste Nuclear energy has been one of the few advances we have made to lower our carbon footprint. Nuclear is the world's second largest source of low-carbon power (26% of the total in 2020). Even though nuclear energy is one of the most efficient ways of producing energy, it has been well opposed by many due to the many issues it brings with it, one of them being radioactive waste. Inside nuclear power plants, nuclear reactors and their equipment contain and control the chain reactions, most commonly fueled by uranium-235, to produce heat through fission. The heat warms the reactor’s cooling agent, typically water, to produce steam. The steam is then channeled to spin turbines, activating an electric generator to create low-carbon electricity. During this process, the power plants produce radioactive waste with varying levels of radioactivity which have to be disposed off properly to prevent any mishaps. This includes its collection and sorting;