What is done with spent nuclear fuel rods?
When fuel rods in a nuclear reactor are “spent,” or no longer usable, they are removed from the reactor core and replaced with fresh fuel rods. The fuel assemblies, which consist of dozens to hundreds of fuel rods each, are moved to pools of water to cool.
What are spent fuel rods used for?
Spent nuclear fuel refers to the bundles of uranium pellets encased in metal rods that have been used to power a nuclear reactor. Over time, nuclear fuel becomes less able to keep a nuclear reaction going. Every so often, about one-third of the fuel in a reactor must be replaced.
How long do spent nuclear fuel rods need to be cooled?
These fuel rods have to be cooled for anywhere between five to 10 years before they’re safe enough to be taken out of these pools and put into dry cast storage.
How is spent nuclear fuel handled?
Spent nuclear fuel is stored either in spent fuel pools (SFPs) or in dry casks. Alternatively, the intact spent nuclear fuel can be directly disposed of as high-level radioactive waste.
Is Spent nuclear fuel radioactive?
The spent nuclear fuel is high-level radioactive waste. The NRC regulates all commercial reactors in the United States, including nuclear power plants that produce electricity, and university research reactors. However, many of the radioactive elements in spent fuel have long half-lives.
How long do spent fuel rods stay hot?
When the uranium fuel is used up, usually after about 18 months, the spent rods are generally moved to deep pools of circulating water to cool down for about 10 years, though they remain dangerously radioactive for about 10,000 years.
What happens to the spent fuel rods in nuclear power plants?
The spent fuel rods are still highly radioactive and continue to generate significant heat for decades. The fuel assemblies, which consist of dozens to hundreds of fuel rods each, are moved to pools of water to cool.
Where are America’s nuclear fuel rods stored?
The U.S. has 104 operating nuclear plants, and most store all the spent fuel rods they’ve ever used right on-site. All told, there are 71,900 tons of spent fuel rods at U.S. nuke plants—the vast majority of them sitting in pools that today are mostly full, according to a recent state-by-state tally by the Associated Press.
What are spent fuel pools?
What are spent fuel pools? When fuel rods in a nuclear reactor are “spent,” or no longer usable, they are removed from the reactor core and replaced with fresh fuel rods. The spent fuel rods are still highly radioactive and continue to generate significant heat for decades.
Is there a repository for spent nuclear fuel?
Because no permanent repository for spent fuel exists in the United States, reactor owners have kept spent fuel at the reactor sites.