I believed that for any nuclear industry to be sustain it must have a well designed radioactive waste management system in place. But does it means that the sustainability of such industry solely depends on the waste management or is there any other factors?
IAEA classification of nuclear energy scenario sustainability
Level 1. Safe, secure, economical and publicly acceptable nuclear power with security of supply – addresses conditions necessary for newcomers to deploy nuclear energy.
Level 2. Safe disposal of all nuclear wastes in a complete once-through fuel cycle with thermal reactors and with retrievable spent nuclear fuel disposal. Level 2 addresses political issue of 'solving the waste problem'. Retrievability is required to not limit future generations’ options.
Level 3. Initiate recycling of used nuclear fuel to reduce wastes. Limited recycle that reduces high-level waste volumes, slightly improves U utilisation, and keeps most of the U more accessible (Depleted U and Recovered U/Th). A branch of Level 3 is a once-through breed and burn option, providing significant improvement in resource utilization (up to 10 times).
Level 4. Guarantee nuclear fuel resources for at least the next 1000 years via complete recycle of used fuel. Closed fuel cycle with breeding of fissile material (from 238U or 232Th) to improve natural resource utilisation by a factor of 10 to 100. Solves the resource utilisation issue by providing fuel for thousands of years while also significantly reducing long-lived radioactivity burden (Pu-233/U recycle).
Level 5. Reduce radiotoxicity of all wastes below natural uranium level. Closed fuel cycle recycling all actinides and only disposing fission products to minimise long-term radiotoxicity of nuclear waste. Achieves additional substantial reduction of long-lived radioactivity burden (Pu-233/U/minor actinide recycle) and reduces radiotoxicity of waste down to natural uranium levels within 1000 years. As an option, transmutation of long-lived fission produces could be considered to further reduce waste radiotoxicity.
Level 2, 3, 4 and 5 are about waste management (IAEA endorse your opinion)
Waste management is key for sustainability and public acceptance of nuclear energy but this is not the only factor (cf. level 1 of IAEA classification by Mushtaq Ahmad)
You may find complementary information on the Generation-IV International Forum (GIF, see link below):
"Eight technology goals have been defined for Generation IV systems in four broad areas: sustainability, economics, safety and reliability, and proliferation resistance and physical protection. These ambitious goals are shared by a large number of countries as they aim at responding to the economic, environmental and social requirements of the 21st century. They establish a framework and identify concrete targets for focusing GIF R&D efforts."
http://www.gen-4.org
Sustainability of nuclear power industry has three dimensions:
- Economic dimension (Competition, Subsidies, External costs and benefits)
- Environmental dimension (Natural resource management, Radiological protection, Safety, Third party liability, Radioactive waste management)
Social dimension (Human capital, Institutional framework, Non-proliferation , Public participation and political aspects, International co-operation)
Radioactivity destroys life. It can be released by natural disasters. Heat released by shallow underground sites mobilizes waters above and below water table. Deep sites generate magma rising as diapirs reaction cells. My 2003 paper presents scientific case.
@Frank Dickson – “Radioactivity destroys life”
Mankind has lived with radioactivity millennia before Nuclear Era.
Radioactivity is a part of our earth - it has existed all along. Naturally occurring radioactive materials are present in its crust, the floors and walls of our homes, schools, or offices and in the food we eat and drink. There are radioactive gases in the air we breathe. Our own bodies - muscles, bones, and tissue - contain naturally occurring radioactive elements. Man has always been exposed to natural radiation arising from the earth as well as from outside the earth.
On average, our radiation exposure due to all natural sources amounts to about 2.4 mSv a year - though this figure can vary, depending on the geographical location by several hundred percent. In homes and buildings, there are radioactive elements in the air. These radioactive elements are radon (Radon 222), thoron (Radon 220) and by products formed by the decay of radium (Radium 226) and thorium present in many sorts of rocks, other building materials and in the soil. By far the largest source of natural radiation exposure comes from varying amounts of uranium and thorium in the soil around the world.
I quite agree with you @Florian Glodeanu that is why I always say we cant do with out it and when we soak it in we can never squeeze it out completely but the only thing is to be very extra careful and vigilant as well as abide by ALARA principles very seriously.
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