The nuclear energy It is one of the most controversial when it comes to generating it and dealing with it. And it is that, during its use, radioactive waste is generated that is harmful to the environment and can cause serious damage. For the correct treatment of these radioactive waste we have the nuclear graveyard. Do you know what a nuclear graveyard is? Nuclear Safety Council in your plans? In this article you can find it all.
If you want to know more about this topic, read on.
What is a nuclear graveyard
Nuclear power has been in operation for many years and its waste must be treated correctly to minimize damage to the environment and not generate serious problems for human health. The term nuclear cemetery was unknown until recently by Spanish society. However, in our country we have one and the construction of a second is in sight.
A priori, a nuclear cemetery is like a landfill. Is about a place where these nuclear waste is stored so that it does not cause any damage. The difference between the waste that we dump in one place and another is that in landfills it is organic matter that ends up, over the years and years, decomposing. Nuclear waste is radioactive and can cause serious damage to the environment and our health if it is not treated correctly or if it causes some kind of nuclear spill.
Types of nuclear waste
The nuclear waste that is deposited in these places is divided into three types:
- Low level waste. It is about those wastes that are not so dangerous and that are generated in hospitals and industry in general. These wastes are stored in drums and dumped in the nuclear cemetery, since it is not possible to recycle or reuse. They are products whose life cycle has come to an end and there is no more use in them.
- Medium level waste. They are the ones that are considered quite dangerous. They are generated in the sludge, resins and chemicals that are used in a nuclear reactor. Among these materials we find some contaminated from other dismantling that may be more dangerous.
- High activity waste. These are the most dangerous and those that come directly from the nuclear reactor. This type of waste is generated from the process of Nuclear fision and other Transuranic elements. They are waste with high radioactivity and their semi-decay period exceeds 30 years.
Depending on the type of waste that needs to be stored, several nuclear cemeteries have been created. These places have been previously conditioned so that do not cause any impact on the environment. Of course, things do not always go as planned. There are many variables that can affect that place in such a long period. This is where the fear and poor acceptance of having a nuclear cemetery (relatively) near your home lies.
The residues are stored until waiting for their decomposition.
Where is each nuclear waste deposited?
As we have mentioned before, depending on the type of nuclear waste that we are treating, more or less conditioned places are needed and that can guarantee protection both to the health of people and the environment.
Low level waste is located and stored in some abandoned mines. These abandoned mines are perfect for placing this waste that does not cause damage and where it can degrade.
There are some temporary warehouses where they are stored and later stacked a large number of them in a large nuclear cemetery. For example, the largest known place is called deep geological storage (for its acronym, AGP). This type of place is conditioned and prepared to store high-level waste that takes more than 1000 years to disappear. These places are still under development, since it is difficult to prepare a place in the subsoil so that it does not damage the rest of the environment where it is located.
Although less socially accepted and even less accepted by environmentalists around the world, it is the seabed. The ocean trenches are places deep under the ocean and whose operation has to do with plate tectonics. It is important to know that the earth's crust "sinks" every year under the earth's mantle little by little and, the place of destruction of this earth's crust is the sea trenches. Therefore, this is used to turn them into nuclear cemeteries.
Nuclear cemetery in Spain
There are nuclear cemeteries placed all over the world. What is clear is that where there are one or more nuclear power plants, there must be a nuclear graveyard. In our country we have a nuclear cemetery with low-level and medium-level waste in the El Cabril area (Córdoba). Its capacity is estimated to have to accommodate waste that are generated until approximately 2030.
Until 2009 there was no high-level waste warehouse. In order to have a better treatment of nuclear waste, the then President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero approved the preparation of one of them in Villar de Cañas in Castilla-La Mancha.
Obviously, this type of construction generated great controversy and opposition from some political parties. Even so, the project was approved due to the need for this waste to have a better treatment and storage.
Radioactive waste management is a very complex issue. There are many people and political parties who think that the El Cabril nuclear cemetery should not be expanded, since it is very far from the nuclear facilities (see Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant y Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant). During transport, certain accidents can also be generated that trigger many more problems than what is tried to be avoided.
In short, nuclear energy it is quite clean during the generation process, if we compare it with those that make use of fossil fuels. However, after their generation, these wastes can be too dangerous for both human health and the environment. Therefore, the correct treatment of them should be a priority in all places.