How is nuclear waste stored?
There are various types of wastes created in the production of nuclear power. The two main categories are fission products and transuranic elements. Fission products, the more radioactive (the tendency of an element to break down spontaneously into one or more elements) of the two, are formed by fission, the splitting of atoms of uranium, cesium, strontium, or krypton. Transuranic elements, which remain radioactive far longer than fission products (hundreds of thousands of years), form when uranium atoms absorb free neutrons. These wastes exist in three forms: 12 feet- (4 meter-) long spent fuel rods; high-level radioactive waste in liquid or sludge; and low-level radioactive waste in such things as reactor hardware, piping, toxic resins, or water from the fuel pool. The U.S. government agency charged with the storage and disposal of nuclear waste is called the Office of Civilian…
