Why does nuclear waste stay radioactive for so long?

That depends on the specific isotopes involved. Some decay faster than others. ...

It creates nuclear waste that can stay radioactive for thousands of years. The result is that it has to be buried in a hole at least 1 mile deep. The fission process yields neutrons, gamma rays, and radioactive elements which can also emit neutrons, alpha particles, beta rays, gamma rays, x-rays, and positrons. ...

The radioactive fission products from a nuclear reactor are contained in the spent fuel and they stay there whilst the fuel is stored under water or eventually in concrete flasks. Waste will only be produced if and when the spent fuel is broken down and chemically treated, probably to separate out the U-238 and plutonium, which may be worth doing. The waste is then the proportion which is not useful and it will consist of the fission products, ie a range of...

The element that can stay radioactive for millions of years is plutonium. This is where most nuclear power plant energy comes from. ...

It depends on how much has been wasted but I'd say it would stay in the ground for the next 10 years for minimum and for a maximum would be for the next century (100 years) ...

Nuclear waste is very toxic and dangerous, there is no good way to dispatch it. It is just piled up in reasonably safe places to prevent too many people and animals from getting into contact with it. The best idea right now is to dig a really deep hole and put the radioactive junk at the bottom of it. Hopefully it will stay there and not end up in the groundwater (our drinking water). If you have a better idea how...

i think around 2 weeks but its safe to stay at an arms length after the firt 5-7 days but not with children probably ...

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the question you meant to ask was "how long does a radioactive substance stay radioactive." The answer is that it depends on what the radioactive substance is. Some things decay quickly and are intensely radioactive for a short time but then fall to more or less background levels; other things decay slowly and remain radioactive for a very long time. ...

They just stay around, being stopped in the fuel rod material. Some are highly radioactive and constitute the high level waste, but if the fuel rods are stored intact, as normally happens with commercial reactors, they just remain in the rods indefinitely. ...

The atomic mass of a radioactive atoms is changed during the radioactive decay (alpha decay, neutron decay, proton decay, double proton decay), spontaneous or artificial fission, nuclear reactions. ...

No physical or chemical process can alter the radioactivity of the waste, so it will still be there whatever you do with it. If the volcano is active, when the next lava flow occurs the nuclear waste will be ejected with the volcanic matter, so it would be a very bad idea. The idea for long term waste disposal is to find somewhere very geologically stable where it will stay for thousands of years without any risk of returning to the...

My opinion on nuclear power may vastly differ from others, but I believe it is a highly profitable and beneficial source of energy. Many people only look at the surface of this technology, only the name, even; immidiately associating it with the nuclear bomb and destruction. But, nuclear technology for the production of energy is very different than that of the production of nuclear bombs. For the bomb, you use the Uranium ore, which is a very tedious process. I guarantee you...

That depends on the waste. Different materials have a different length of time and the more waste you have the longer it will take. you have to know the half life of the material and how much you have. Need to find what level of radioactivity you are considering to be a "safe level" and what the maximum amount of your material you can have and still be below that level. After that you simply find how many times you need...

The fission products produced in the fuel through fission of U-235 and Pu-239 are very radioactive, with a large number of different isotopes of various half lives and types of radiation. When the fuel is removed for storage these are still contained in the fuel and will stay there as long as the fuel is stored intact. If there are any pinhole defects in the fuel cladding a small amount might leak out, so it is important to monitor the fuel storage,...

First and foremost, it is impossible for a nuclear power plant to explode. i.e. to go nuclear, because it is impossible for it to stay in prompt critical geometry long enough to consume the fuel for a runaway reaction to occur. Period. Not possible. Even if a terrorist organization infiltrated the facility and blew it up, that would be a chemical explosion, not a nuclear explosion. Yes, there would be release of radioactive materials to the environment, but it would not be...

yes as long as you are alive you body will be making waste from chemical reactions. This waste cannot stay in your body or you will develop uremia. ...

As long as the infected cellular matter is present, or may be it depends till the nuclear components of the cells decompose. ...

it helps us stay warm? that answer is yes. Nuclear energy does help us stay warm thanks ...

Protactinium, a radioactive element... Kids stay away!

A substance whose nuclei do not stay together

For modern nuclear subs, they could theoretically stay under indefinitely. Of course, there's a crew which has to eat and bathe, and food and toiletries do eventually run out. ...

Human operators have to stay behind thick shielding, so robots are useful in being able to go close to the material, but they are remotely controlled by humans. ...

That varies, but as most radioisotopes produced in a typical nuclear blast are short halflife, the area is likely to be safe to reoccupy in a few weeks to months. It gets more complex to predict with many blasts (especially high fallout surface bursts). Radiological surveys should be taken first to identify any radioactive hotspots so they can be marked off as hazard zones. ...

Because of the curry that is produced now a days in the nuclear factories in russia and samoa, this release dihydrogen oxide in the air. ...

As long as they stay babies is how long they stay babies.