Chemistry

Chemistry of nuclear fuel cycle, radiochemical problems in nuclear waste management

Nuclear waste, which includes radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, and medical isotope manufacture, is one of the most difficult types of waste to manage in contemporary civilization. Because of its high radioactivity, it must be safely segregated from humans and the environment until it no longer poses a threat, which might take a million years or more. From designing engineered facilities to isolate waste from future civilizations to inventing new materials to immobilize weapons-grade and surplus civil plutonium, this review will demonstrate that nuclear waste management is a world of materials science and engineering challenges that must withstand the test of time. Nuclear waste management is extremely challenging due to the ever-changing nature of nuclear waste, which undergoes chemical and physical changes as a result of radioactive decay processes.