The generation of electricity from a typical 1,000-megawatt nuclear power station, which would supply the needs of more than a million people, produces only three cubic metres of vitrified high-level waste per year, if the used fuel is recycled. Only 5 grams of this is high-level waste – about the same weight as a sheet of paper. On average, the waste from a reactor supplying a person’s electricity needs for a year would be about the size of a brick. As a result, a correspondingly small amount of waste is produced. Nuclear fuel is very energy dense, so very little of it is required to produce immense amounts of electricity – especially when compared to other energy sources. Many permanent disposal facilities are in operation for low- and intermediate-level waste, and facilities for high-level waste and used nuclear fuel are under implementation and facilities under construction. Unlike any other energy generating industry, the nuclear sector takes full responsibility for all of its waste. By contrast, high-level waste – mostly comprising used nuclear (sometimes referred to as spent) fuel that has been designated as waste from the nuclear reactions – accounts for just 3% of the total volume of waste, but contains 95% of the total radioactivity. The vast majority of the waste (90% of total volume) is composed of only lightly-contaminated items, such as tools and work clothing, and contains only 1% of the total radioactivity. There are three types of nuclear waste, classified according to their radioactivity: low-, intermediate-, and high-level. Like all industries and energy-producing technologies, the use of nuclear energy results in some waste products. Near the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden the CLAB (foreground) facility stores all the used fuel from Sweden’s nuclear power plants, which for decades have provided over 40% of the country's electricity (Image: SKB) There are several management strategies in practise, such as direct disposal or reuse in reactors to generate more low-carbon electricity. The electricity generated from nuclear reactors results in small amount of waste and has been managed responsibly since the dawn of civil nuclear power. What is nuclear waste, and what do we do with it?
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