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Topics:
Nuclear Waste Management
Since some of the problems at the plant center on problems with cooling spent fuel rods, could advances in fuel reprocessing minimize some of these issues in the future?.
Very unlikely. The spent fuel rods need to be cooled for several years in a pond before they can be safely transported and processed using currently available technology. Foreseeable advances in reprocessing technology and plant design will not facilitate earlier processing of spent fuel.
What is the main reason, other than cutting funds, why the government shut down the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Depository, and what is now the alternative to it?
All non-political commentators I have read regard the closure of the Yucca Mountain Project as politically motivated, not a cost-saving measure nor due to technical considerations. There are several alternatives that the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, established by President Obama, will review. The Commission is due to issue its preliminary report around the middle of this year.
Radiation Clean Up
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Have you heard microbes can clean up radiation?
I have heard that there are some biological materials that can withstand significant radiation and separate and isolate the various elements, including unstable or radioactive isotopes. The Department of Energy has maintained a research and development program that investigates the use of biological materials to sequester contaminated groundwater and soils. Radiation-resistant microbes have been found in both high and low radiation environments.
I've heard that one solution for deactivation of radioactive materials is achieved with neutron bombardment. Is this real research being conducted for treatment of radioactive waste or pure science fiction? Is time the only solution?
This mechanism is termed transmutation. It requires the material to be formed into appropriate 'targets,' like nuclear fuel, which are then bombarded with neutrons either in an advanced reactor or from a source such as an accelerator. The process can transmute some radioactive isotopes into shorter-lived radioisotopes that decay into stable isotopes at a faster rate. Other radioactive elements are transmuted to radioisotopes that are less radiologically hazardous (e.g., less mobile in the environment). There is research in this area but a slow rate. The process is not currently considered to offer any advantage over simply allowing the radioisotopes to naturally decay as measured by the relative radiological impacts to the environment and nuclear workers or economics.
In the radiological release data, what are the mechanisms for the decrease in the I-131 concentration? Dilution? Distance from the decaying material? A combination of the two?
Dilution is the main reason for the reduction shown in the presentation. However, time is also an important factor because I-131 has only an 8-day half life (i.e., half of it has become stable xenon after 8 days).
Radiologic Exposure
Should we be concerned about traveling to Japan over the next several months?
The Department of Energy has issued some travel restrictions for DOE personnel traveling to Japan.