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Beyond one million years: The intrinsic radiation hazard of high-level nuclear wastes Cover

Beyond one million years: The intrinsic radiation hazard of high-level nuclear wastes

Open Access
|Nov 2024

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1.

Radioactive decay over time of spent CANDU fuel upon discharge from the reactor. It uses natural uranium in comparison and shows that it will take up to 10 million years before the spent fuel goes back to the same overall radioactivity levels as the original ore equivalent. The same chart can be applied qualitatively to any kind of uranium-based SF.
Radioactive decay over time of spent CANDU fuel upon discharge from the reactor. It uses natural uranium in comparison and shows that it will take up to 10 million years before the spent fuel goes back to the same overall radioactivity levels as the original ore equivalent. The same chart can be applied qualitatively to any kind of uranium-based SF.

Fig. 2.

Decay of VHLW from reprocessing of 1 ton of spent fuel [4].
Decay of VHLW from reprocessing of 1 ton of spent fuel [4].

Fig. 3.

Radiological dose rate in Sv/h from two French HLW drill cores. C2 is VHLW; CU1 is SF (p. 25 in Ref. [2] and p. 533 in Ref. [7]).
Radiological dose rate in Sv/h from two French HLW drill cores. C2 is VHLW; CU1 is SF (p. 25 in Ref. [2] and p. 533 in Ref. [7]).

Fig. 4.

Accrued, external dose from drill cores of several kinds of present and future French VHLW after a 10-min exposure, 40 cm from the drill core, and as a function of time [9].
Accrued, external dose from drill cores of several kinds of present and future French VHLW after a 10-min exposure, 40 cm from the drill core, and as a function of time [9].

Fig. 5.

The dose rate 2 cm away from the full-size C2 VHLW cylinder as a function of time (source: ANDRA).
The dose rate 2 cm away from the full-size C2 VHLW cylinder as a function of time (source: ANDRA).

Exposure time in hours for getting the annual ICRP dose constraint of 0_3 mSv as a function of time at three distances from POLLUX-8 cask assemblies, neglecting the shielding of the cask

Decay time (million years)Exposure (h) at contactExposure (h) at 40 cmExposure (h) at 10 m
10.0460.43010.8
100.1081.03425.9
1000.1121.06426.6
10000.1301.23430.8

Gamma dose rate (mSv/h) at three distances from a POLLUX-8 cask loaded with 8 UO2 fuel assemblies, neglecting the shielding of the cask

Decay time (million years)Next to surface (4 cm)40 cm (extrapolated)10 m
16.560.6970.0279
102.770.2900.0116
1002.680.2820.0113
10002.310.2430.00974

Density and HVL for various materials depending on the energy of the gamma rays

MaterialDensity (g/cm3)HVL (cm) for 0.3 MeVHVL (cm) for 0.6 MeVHVL (cm) for 1.0 MeVHVL (cm) for 1.5 MeV
Concrete2.32.084.026.697.70
R7T7 glass2.62.224.105.926.50
UO210.970.260.490.791.33

Transmission factors for energies 0_944 MeV and 0_312 MeV in R7T7 glass waste forms of radii 21 cm and 5 cm

Energy (MeV)Cylinder radius (cm)HVL (cm)Transmission factor (%)
0.944213.7578.53
0.312211.5760.28
0.94453.75756.80
0.31251.57627.90

Dose rate computation coefficients for the German spent fuel of Table 1

Ai (mSv/h)λi (1/106 years)
U-2382.6971.55 × 10−4
Np-2372.9100.324
U-23429.6702.820

Highest gamma energies in the (4n + 2) and (4n + 1) chains_ The weighted averages values are based on the data obtained from Japan Atomic Energy Agency [15,16,17,18]

RadionuclideWeighted average gamma energy per emission (keV)
Bi-214944.00
Pb-214318.38
Pa-233311.86
Th-22947.96

Elemental activity ratios (at 10 000 years) and chain activity ratios (at one million years) for French VHLW

Time (years)Np-237/(U-234 + U-238)Np-237/U-238U-234/U-238
10 000576.7319 220.6232.34
1 000 0004672.9313 896.101.97

Relative contributions from the three actinide chains to the gamma dose from a block of unshielded eight UO2 fuel assemblies (same assemblies as mentioned in Table 1)

Decay time (million years)U-238 chain (%)Np-237 chain (%)Excess U-234 chain (%)Total, surface dose rate (mSv/h)
141.1232.1026.786.56
262.4135.162.414.32
477.2822.713.49
692.317.692.92
895.734.272.81
1096.293.722.77
1498.861.142.72
2099.830.172.69
1001002.68
10001002.31

Main contributors to the gamma dose rate from SF as a function of time The original calculations were based on LWR fuel but, for the past 105 years, say, they apply to any U-fuel, as the differences among uranium fuel types smooth out_ in million years for the configuration of Table 1_ The (4n + 2) elements are denoted in bold and the (4n + 1) elements are denoted in italics

0.1 My1 My10 My100 My1000 My
Bi-214Bi-214Bi-214Bi-214Bi-214
Sb-126mPa-233Pb-214Pb-214Pb-214
Pb-214Th-229Pa-234mPa-234mPa-234m
Pa-233Bi-213Pa-233Bi-210Bi-210
Sb-126Pb-214Th-229U-235Th-234
Th-229Tl-209Bi-213Ra-223
Np-237Np-237Bi-210
Bi-213Fr-221U-235
Bi-210Ac-225Ra-223
Tl-209Ra-225Tl-209
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nuka-2024-0029 | Journal eISSN: 1508-5791 | Journal ISSN: 0029-5922
Language: English
Page range: 215 - 224
Submitted on: Jul 24, 2024
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Accepted on: Sep 23, 2024
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Published on: Nov 20, 2024
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

© 2024 Claudio Pescatore, published by Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.