The Solution to Radioactive Nuclear Fuel Waste
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- The Solution to Radioactive Nuclear Fuel Waste
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In this video, The Solution to Radioactive Nuclear Waste, I share the solution of the nuclear industry in handling and storing radioactive spent nuclear fuel. I explain the method developed in Sweden and and give a tour of the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory in Sweden. If you're interested in learning more about nuclear physics, this video The Solution to Radioactive Nuclear Fuel Waste is for you! I explain everything you need to know about the storage of radioactive nuclear fuel waste. This video The Solution to Radioactive Nuclear Fuel Waste is a great way to learn about this fascinating field! 
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Hey all, I’m baaaaack!☢️👩🏽🔬it’s been a long vacation and loooooots of lab work planned for 2024! Let me know how did you like the lab visit and any questions you might have I’d be happy to answer!
I was wondering how state-of-the-art is the facility?! 😮
Sorry this isn't nuclear-related, but you explained all of that very succinctly. My question is how did it feel being that deep underground, air pressure-wise? Did they regulate air pressure as you went further down? Did you have any wait periods coming back to the surface to avoid decompression sickness?
The thing that really struck me, right at the very start of the video, is how not “nuclear facility” this nuclear facility looks. From any distance it could be mistaken for farm buildings or something.
I have a question. How much waste a canister holds? For a normal life spend of a reactor - 30 years, how much canisters will this be? This facility if it gets fully constructed, with the maximum number of deposits, how much waste it can accommodate, but not like in tons, in actual reactors? I would like an answer like - fully build will be sufficient for the waste produced by X number of reactors during their life of 30 years...
Two questions, if the AC and blowers are turned off, what is the temperature of the tunnels? Also what is the result of examining the corrosion pots on the copper tubes buried 20 years ago?
There is no such thing as "Nuclear Fuel Waste", only vastly underutilized alternate fuel sources. . . Brilliant video, also!
only problem is how to extract it from Asse II ground water
I agree. There's only light water nuclear reactor waste. A better reactor design could use this stuff as fuel but we're doing a huge project to bury it into ground. The amount of copper alone will be super expensive.
but " mUh 3 MiLe iSlAnd aCcIdEnT "!
@MR-backup no accident, just a PR nightmare
Problem is....that International Atomic Energy Authority disagrees with you. LOL:
www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Pub1295_web.pdf
You pro-nuclear folks crack me up! LOL
I LOVE it when Elina talks Nuclear to us. Our "Friendly Nuclear Physicist" does it so well.
BTW, we used Bentonite Clay when I worked in the Oilfield for several reasons. Mixing it in Dry Powder form with water, as well as other Chemicals for Special Purposes, creates Drilling Fluid, also commonly called "Drilling Mud," to be pumped down hole through the Drill String and Recirculated back to the Surface through the Annulus.
Your Fan Club Loves you Elina!
Thanks so much means a lot 👩🏽🔬☢️
Bentonite clay is also used as a clarifier in winemaking, and I believe in some cosmetics. It's truly a versatile material!
We use bentonite to line dirt water tanks so they hold water instead of it seeping into the ground.
@@fragile1976 -- We have also used Bentonite to Grout casing into Environmental Wells to prevent the commingling of Surface Water & other Fluids with the Groundwater.
@@betterl8thannvr -- I DO NOT know much about Winemaking but I did know about Bentonite being used in the manufacturing of some Cosmetics.
The solution is molten salt breeder reactors which generate huge amounts of additional energy from the "Waste". What's remaining only needs to be protected for about 300 years which doesn't need this kind of expensive storage. It's a win/win.
Nuclear waste is an asset, not a liability.
Too bad we are all people and plutonium from em can be gone "missing".
@@oljackie35 No it hasn't, it can't.
When has it? Seriously. Stop spreading misinformation, MISS INFORMATION!@@oljackie35
@@chapter4travelsmhm
If you can separate the fission products in use similar to what LFTR wants to do with their reactor concepts, then you can convert them into nuclear batteries and eliminate the high intensity short lived waste as you are using it to generate more energy.
If you adopt a fast spectrum as well, you have a lot more fuel, but that is obviously not without risk.
Some estimates put it in the hundreds to thousands of years, without digging up any more fuel.
Molten core reactors are the solution, whether or not salt is the better solution, depends on a number of factors, but the barrier is a lack of research investment.
Makes me wish I had gotten into Nuclear energy.
Very informative & helpful. More people need to know that this exists.
You can relate then to having the plant in my county (that employed over 3,000 people) shut down because of decades long hippie misinformation!
😭😡
@MR-backup More so, I had too many things I wanted to do and did not focus on one thing. Lego Robotics helped me discover that Nuclear power was the way to go.
Thanks for the tour! Very interesting and valuable.
Glad you enjoyed it!👩🏽🔬☢️
I really appreciate your content. 🎉🤗
Thank you 🙏🏼
@@YourFriendlyNuclearPhysicist 🤗
That was very interesting! Thanks for shareing Eina! You are just the coolest nuke teacher in the world!
Thank you for the visit, very interesting. Please keep up the good work!
thank you a lot for this amazing tour im learning more and more thanks to you , you have such a great job
Very good information with humour 👏🏻
Hi! Just came across your perfect channel, I can breathe again!
Fantastic, I am a retired physicist (Bach/Post GPA’s 6.7 at humble uni) worked most of my life mainly in Process & Control Engineering Industrial but many mining and processing plants, power station smelting refining etc,
Great to see your page and obviously subscribed!
Will post support my end (Australia) as much as I can.
Regards Pete
A complex subject thoroughly explained in layman's terms. Well done, Elina!
Wow, that was fascinating, thanks! It's truly fascinating to see all the testing necessary to ensure safe storage. I think everyone should see this; it's really great information. Cheers!
This sounds a lot more stable than yucca mountain here. Wherever we put it needs to be reasonably accessible again for when we find how to reuse it. That will save huge amounts of money by not having to mine new uranium or basically mine the waste we buried. We’ll just have to take it out of storage and use it up. When we’re done with it we can put what’s left right back into the same storage again. Eventually we’ll find a better form of energy like a Dyson sphere. By that time we’d most likely be able to force it to decay at a massively quicker rate or take it to a different planet and store whatever’s left there. If we don’t blow ourselves up then our tech will progress at a much faster rate than the decay rate of spent nuclear fuel.
We already know how to reuse it.
Which planet were you thinking to take it? Most certainly every other planet has lot more radioactivity than ours.
I can't imagine how expensive this project is, but is magnific.
Perhaps at 6:29 the operator decided to take a break from all the science and engineering. I believe it can become real hot at 220m underground. 😅 On the subject: I just absolutely like how swedes do their business. They are definitely one of the most rational and good-willed people. They engage in creation, steering clear of controversies like sensational headlines, dramas, or financial scandals, focusing purely on their craft without the encumbrance of such unsavory aspects. Kudos to them!
nice👌
Thanks so much for sharing your vast knowledge and the very well thought out explanations about nuclear science and technology. I really enjoy your channel and look forward to more awesome videos and welcome back from your vacation! :)
Excellent video. Hopefully these repositories will one day be used to house fission products only.
This is an awesome tour, thank you!
Super good job as is usual from you, and thank you.
The rich yet simple way you explained everything during this tour is fascinating. Everyday I learn new things with your videos.
Aaand: Nice choice of gif at the end of video. Cats are so cute! 🐱
Your contributions are useful and always well done and the presentation is pleasant
Awesome video! Super informative...thank you our FNP! 🎉🎉
Not sure how I missed this video - the insight is fantastic!
I was down there 20 years ago. Interesting place!
Just one like it is already in use in Finland, the development of the system has been done together.
Thanks for the educational guidance
Loved the video. Please keep them coming
Thank you! Will do!👩🏽🔬☢️
It seems that this system might make it possible to recover the cylinders and re-use the contents when the technology to do that is commercially up and running (hopefully!). Is that part of the plan?
When the system was developed in the 80s together with Finland, we didn’t know what could be possible in future. We still don’t know. There was a referendum in Sweden with three options about the future of nuclear. Line 3 won, stop with nuclear in 20 years. But there has always been hope for better tech in the future.
Oh, and great lab visit in Sweden underground!
Hope you had a great season break 😊
Love your video's. Thank you.
thank you so much !! love you videos!
Thanks it means a lot ☢️👩🏽🔬🙏🏼
The Andreev Bay nuclear accident in the USSR in 1982 was an example of how not to deal with spent fuel assemblies.
OMG I MISSED YOU NEVER LEAVE US AGAIN SO EXCITEDDD
I'm confused.
When I go to your page, your user name is in Greek (which makes sense) and also in Chinese?
Why?
@@MR-backup1. Because I can
2. It’s Korean not Chinese 😂
@ElladaEllada 1. Because I can
- That's pretty obvious since if you couldn't, it wouldn't be there; also that still wouldn't answer WHY (as in: WHY did you CHOOSE to). But w/e I guess.
2. It’s Korean not Chinese 😂
- I didn't know; learn something new every day, I guess.
@@MR-backup Glad to hear you learned something new~
To answer your question, I speak Korean and Greek. That’s why 🎀
Excellent video ! Well explained, thanks.
I loved the video! I would have liked to see a geiger counter down there and see how's the count down there, since you are shielded from most of the cosmic rays but also have slightly radioactive canisters
Great interresting video, thank you 👍🏼
Glad you enjoyed it👩🏽🔬☢️
Seems like a very well thought out process.
Really fun episode! So good to see inside the places we hear about. What is the hip back for (on the belt around your waist).
Great video! Thank you
I do hope they're storing this such that it will continue to be accessible, in case we want to retrieve it in a few decades or centuries. We may want to check the containers for unexpected types of corrosion, or retrieve the "waste" for reprocessing and use as fuel, or put the waste in a fusion reactor or ADR to burn it down to low level waste under neutron bombardment (and get energy from it).
Good to see you back Elina! Its a very good idea, however I think for some countries with small land masses will have an issue, the UK kind of springs to mind
Thank you so much for yet another interesting video, Elina and for showing us places that we can't visit ourselves. I see that the waste is stored for at least 30 years at Clab before final storage. Not as 'sexy' as this facility, but will you visit Clab as well ?
Those copper tubes are crazy. Has to be super expensive.
Thats what I was wondering about too. Such a huge amount of copper materials being used for this!
It's really not that crazy given the value of the materials it's storing or considering it a cost of doing business. Sure, a broke meth head that would otherwise steal the copper pipe off a construction site would be salivating . . . but it's like $63k each. 7400 kilos of copper at $8.45/kg. @@nholth
Still feels like a waste.
Very interesting! Thanks.
Interesting video. Thank you.
This is awesome - both the Swedish project and the video! Thanks! I'm curious, whatever happened to the French process of turning radioactive waste into a glass?
Thank you for the brilliant explanation. BTW, what's the funny "chicken-tail-similar" container on your back?
We need to be making a better effort to get the other 97% out of the spent fuel. And we need to separate out the isotopes we can utilize for like those for cancer therapies. It is such a waste that we have to build repositories that massive. But very educational Elina. You rock! BuBu
It's already all turned into Military Munitions...
This is a Bullshit illusion.
12:45 I call this type of water "Earth Tea"
I do like the uplifting music when talking about nuclear waste storage
Very cool and informative video. Thanks!
What I really would like to know though: Suppose we really end up needing this (and not have enough fast spectrum and thorium MSR's to consume all this "waste"), what are the projected costs when being applied to the waste of a traditional uranium PWR, per MWh of energy produced? It looks pretty expensive, even though the energy density is gigantic of course, but are there any cost projections?
Very informative and entertaining. Visits to facilities like this help me understand the tech much better. Is the spent fuel intended to be stored permanently or just long enough that it can be recycled?
These deep repositories are intended for permanent disposal. In its current form, it's meant to permanently store waste from a once-through fuel cycle, with the fuel remaining in its cladding. But in theory, the fission product waste leftover from reprocessing could also be stored here.
This report is very well presented and interesting. I would like to see what other countries like Canada and the US are doing.
I am at once flummoxed by the idea of tasting water known to be saltier than the sea but yet the facility has provided what appears to be a drinking fountain. Flummoxed and yet entertained!
That was really good. I was wandering do they need to pump and filter breathing air down there ? I noticed no need for breathing machines. Very interesting video thanks .
You should do a video comparing the storage of this material as opposed to reusing it. It seems insane that we are just burning it when we can refuse it’s time as waste down to a few hundred years. Once it is stored this way can they remove it for recycling? It is obviously the more environmentally friendly way of taking care of it, so why don’t we recycle it even if it is a bit more expensive?
The life expectancy of these canisters are very acceptable. Just less than a thousand years we will have the technology not only to have cleaner nuclear usage but to be able to pull nuclear waste out from these silos and reprocess them in a environmentally clean way. Great video. I learned a lot. Thank you
That estimate of copper corrosion is a reaaaally big extrapolation. I'm sure they have built the canisters to survive the overpressure but I am interested as to how much pressure would build up inside them due to helium generation from alpha decay.
Huh, interesting walkthrough. Canada is also planning a deep repository for nuclear waste. Would you know if these studies are shared with the Canadian planners and if they have a different approach? Thank you for the excellent episode.
Yaaay new vid!
Interesting tour. The proposed Yucca mountain nuclear storage facility in the US was shut down for a variety of technical and political reasons. Nice to see our European friends are having better luck dealing with this thorny problem.
I really enjoy watching your videos ,, how can they estimate 20 years compared to 100,000 years?? Thanks Eliana
Commercial power reactors do not create anything remotely like the amount of "waste" we're told they create. There is a fortune being made from the "management" of reactor "waste".
No one is making fortunes with waste, it just sits on the power plant site doing nothing. The normal security at the plant is all that's needed.
@@chapter4travels The stuff is valuable. Hence the security and the propagation of fear surrounding the it.
@@paulanderson7796 All nuclear power plants have security, there is no additional security for the storage casks.
Most of them [the casks] are empty. That was my whole point. It's theatre. Hence the fortune being made from "management" of reactor "waste".
@@chapter4travelsEven more ridiculous with low level waste. Coffee cups, hand towels, and crisp packets are not nuclear waste. It's general refuse and nothing more.
I have a question. How much waste a canister holds? For a normal life spend of a reactor - 30 years, how much canisters will this be? This facility if it gets fully constructed, with the maximum number of deposits, how much waste it can accommodate, but not like in tons, in actual reactors? I would like an answer like - fully build will be sufficient for the waste produced by X number of reactors during their life of 30 years...
Fine af!
Pretty and smart!!!
I have a couple of questions . . .
I'm sure the engineers have considered these already, but I'd be interested to learn how (a) encasing spent fuel and fission products in copper raises the potential for Bremsstrahlung radiation. How is ghos addressed? and (b) to what extent does the bentonite clay expand when it absorbs water, and how much scope do the holes allow for this?
Great video! In summer I'll spend a week or so in Stockholm (after many years not having been there) so thanks to your great content, I'll try to visit R1 at KTH. Do you know if it's open to private visitors?
It’s not unfortunately. You can enter by invitation to an event.
@@YourFriendlyNuclearPhysicist Oh, no!! I'm following you and another nuclear expert called @operadornuclear and you both have created me an obsession with nuclear power. I'm looking to visit a nuclear plant but I've not found anyone. When they are open, it's just for organised groups, so I thought R1 might be my oportunity... I'll have to continu searching. Many, many thanks for your great content!
Engagement for the engagement god!
Awesome, positive ideas with, it looks like, international collaboration
Great video. In my mind nuclear is the safest, most reliable and environmentally friendly energy source when done correctly. How many years waste in regards of spent fuel will this facility store.
Did I miss where you explained your acquisition and eventual loss of a new orange retroreflective tail?
Great video. Like a radioactive Tom Scott, only better.
Some fission products can decay into gases and potentially increase internal pressure. Could you explain what measures are in place to prevent a copper canister from bursting due to this pressure buildup? Thanks for the informative video!
I would really like to see that canister handling truck in action. Maybe you can find a video.
Good video, but I feel nearly as good about putting it in containers on the surface in the desert as trying to hide it. We really need to separate it out and recycle it. To me this is just hiding it, someday when we learn to deal with it we just made it harder to get to.
Can these be retrieved later to be used in a Thorium reactor?
Elina, you mention that the holes are 6 meters apart for a reason, how much heat does one of those copper containers put out? Does the heat level increase over time? If it weren't for the radiation, could you touch one of them?
What are the main factors taken into account when deciding the storage locations? dumb question but would it be possible to do it in locations like antartida? Just found out about your channel makes me feel less scare about nuclear energy
Why don't they reprocess the waste? Seems like a lot of work, building tunnels for storage.
Looks super amazing and super expensive. No wonder nuclear energy costs so much.
just imagine that if we would use the right reactors that one repository would be enough to last 100's of years for the whole darn world but no we have to use reactors that are inefficient and produce relatively a huge load of waste.
I'm late to the party by a couple months, but what type of heaters do they use for the test canisters? Are they electric, are they RTG or are they something else? I wonder because, although electric would be more convenient, I can see that wires penetrating what should be an unbroken bentonite layer might skew the results just a bit (or not).
This is interesting on its own, nothing wrong with such a lovely interpreter to help us understand 😊
More of the dog! Very enjoyable video too, but I have to pet the dog.
My idea was always to put it back right where we got it, in the spent mine shafts where we mine it the first time.
We can also tell certain weapons makers to use tungsten instead while we're at it...
Such an amazing and so informative video. It's so good that we can see all the content that you are talking about. It really helps to understand more if you are not from the field. Can't wait for your next video ❤
A solid solution, just a question needs to asked about cost? When this needs to last for millennia?
@Elina - If the Bentonite does absorb moisture from the ground, how does it dry out as their is no air flow, the moisture is trapped. Is there a risk of the moisture growing mold from trapped moisture and warm conditions caused by the spent fuel causing premature failure of the protection measures?
This is an illusion..
Depleted Uranium is Purchased by the US Military Industrial Complex, and they make Depleted Uranium Munitions, and sell to NATO Countries...
Look at the insane amount of Birth Defects that suddenly appeared after Wars in Countries such as Iraq for example.
The citizens in Iraq were left with nothing but destroyed shit everywhere, and they used every single resource they could find, such as dismantling Tanks (To use the Metal) that had been hit With Depleted Uranium Shells....
Those people are screwed.
how do they deal with fresh air delivery throughout the facility?
I thought Titanium was the first choice for making nuclear waste canisters because it almost corrosion proof below 65°C, while Copper is prone to pitting and crevice corrosion. Titanium "metal" is also 30% cheaper than Copper nowadays !! make me wonder why in the hell they using Copper ?!!
That looks like a huge amount of copper. You said it was 5cm thick. I think more like 10cm. But either way that copper must be so expensive.
Love your work ❤
Elina, How state of the art is it?! 😮
In the Project participates as of Flag countries who are closing their Nuclear Power Plants? There could be good Presentation for assessing the cost for the Country when they Drop-Out per time basis the Idea of Nuclear Energy. Does Nuclear Fuel are Infinite Source?
Very informative video Elina.
Nuclear apologists I have spoken too say the waste problem has been solved. But obviously not. Long term storage is still the only option for certain levels of waste. When I say 'solved', I mean 'No Radioactive Waste'. Well that is the dream anyway. My only objection to nuclear anything is the waste problem. Burying it and locking it up is only safe as long as there is someone guarding it and monitoring it. Just ask the Egyptian Pharos.
So one could say, it is as safe as humans can make it. And that sort of worries me.
It’s far less waste than any other energy source. Thousands of people die every year from oil/gas. People even die from windmills and solar panels installation and maintenance. Solar panels contain a lot of toxic waste. Nuclear waste just sounds more scary and dangerous than other wastes when in reality, all of the waste streams have different but equally dangerous wastes. So less is better.
Hello, Elina! 😊
How does this compare to the US plans for the Nevada site that keeps getting delayed?
My biggest question is how soon will they be running it through a fusion reactor for refurbishment and reuse?
*Summary*
*Introduction to SKB and the Facility*
- 00:00 Introduction to SKB, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company.
- 00:13 SKB has developed a design for a permanent geological repository for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden.
- 00:22 Plan to visit the underground facility and labs at Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory.
*Journey Underground*
- 00:37 The facility is 500 meters underground; the first stop is at 220 meters.
- 00:53 Arrival at the first stop, 220 meters below ground, where the research facility is located.
*Research Facility Purpose and Design*
- 01:02 The research facility studies the potential for building a permanent geological repository.
- 01:20 Location in Sweden was chosen for both positive and negative geological properties, making it ideal for research.
- 01:52 The facility's depth and various layers are conducive to different experiments.
- 02:09 Schematic overview of Sweden's design for a permanent geological repository.
*Storage Design and Safety Measures*
- 02:28 Explanation of how spent fuel is stored in copper canisters surrounded by bentonite clay.
- 03:01 Multi-barrier safety concept described to prevent environmental contamination.
- 03:42 Initial horizontal and vertical canister layout concepts; vertical layout was ultimately chosen for implementation.
*Exploring the Facility's Lower Levels*
- 04:35 At 340 meters underground, examining a built example of a future tunnel where canisters will be stored.
- 05:42 An experiment in the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory related to expanding storage for low and intermediate waste in Sweden.
*The Copper Canister*
- 06:17 Close-up look at a copper canister designed to hold spent nuclear fuel.
- 06:40 Sweden's choice of copper for canisters, which is expected to resist corrosion for at least 100,000 years.
*Bentonite Clay: A Protective Barrier*
- 07:30 Bentonite clay discussed as a protective barrier to absorb water and prevent contact with the canister.
*Transportation and Placement of Canisters*
- 08:16 Design of a specialized transportation vehicle to place canisters vertically in the repository.
- 08:50 Detailed explanation of how the vehicle operates and deposits the canisters.
*The Final Resting Place for Canisters*
- 09:36 Description of one of the smaller tunnels and the hole where the canister will be placed.
- 09:52 Visual description of the hole dimensions and how the canister fits within it, surrounded by bentonite clay.
*Protective Barriers in the Repository*
- 10:14 Summary of the three protective barriers: copper canister, bentonite clay, and bedrock.
*Prototype Repository Experiment*
- 10:38 Description of an experiment with a prototype repository where six canisters were buried.
- 10:53 Three canisters have been extracted after 20 years, with a fourth one due for extraction.
- 11:01 Testing conducted on canisters to assess their condition after 20 years in simulated repository conditions.
*Extraction and Analysis of Canisters*
- 11:57 Observation of a canister being extracted, which was filled with clay and had an internal heater simulating the heat from spent fuel.
- 12:31 Mention of water seeping into the tunnel, which is thousands of years old and very salty.
*Chemistry Lab Insights*
- 13:02 Visit to the chemistry lab where water samples are analyzed for properties crucial to the repository's design.
*Bentonite Lab Testing*
- 13:35 Examination of bentonite testing, which includes assessing behavior under normal and accident scenario conditions.
- 13:56 Bentonite samples from the prototype experiment are being tested to see how properties have endured over the years.
*Conclusion and Invitation for Comments*
- 14:33 Conclusion of the tour at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, with thanks to SKB.
- 14:47 Encouragement for viewers to comment with their thoughts and questions about the facility.
- 15:02 Reminder to like, subscribe, and turn on notifications, with a sign-off from the host, Elina.
Disclaimer: I used gpt4-1106 to summarize the video transcript. This
method may make mistakes in recognizing words and it can't distinguish
between speakers.
Is it possible to use used nuclear waste as fuel on generation 4 nuclear reactor? If this is possible, is this the same as MOX fuel? What would be prosentual amount of MOX that can be used?