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Q: Why does nuclear waste stay radioactive for so long?
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How long does radioactive waste stay poisionous?

nuclear waste is a never ending source of hurt for the environment. truly we should try to contain it for 500 to a thousand years as the waste it produces is deadly and can cause tumors or cancer.


What Element stays radioactive for millions of years?

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


How much nuclear waste is produced each year?

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 different elements and their isotopes, many of which are highly radioactive. This material is highly dangerous to life and must be stored safely for a long time (centuries)


What are the waste products of nuclear power?

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.


How does nuclear waste dispatch?

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 to get rid of it, tell someone.


How long does radioactive iodine stay in the body after a radioactive iodine thyroid treatment?

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


Does atomic mass stay the same?

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.


What would happen if nuclear waste was disposed of into an open volcano?

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 earth's surface, just the opposite of the volcano's contents.


Is neptunium explosive?

Yes. All the isotopes of plutonium are radioactive. It is dangerous stuff.


How long these body waste materials stay in the large intestine?

Average if 3 hours


What would be the social consequences if a nuclear power plant exploded?

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 a nuclear detonation as from a nuclear bomb. Get your heads straight around that. Its just not possible. The geometry is all wrong.


What happens to a nucleus during nuclear fission process?

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.