Spent nuclear fuel generates heat for decades and is radioactive for thousands of years. The used fuel is a combination of major actinides, fission products and minor actinides. Actinides are a group of 15 chemical elements with atomic numbers 89 to 103. The major actinides in used fuel are uranium and plutonium.
The proliferation of nuclear weapons is a global concern and most nations with nuclear arsenals are working to reduce their own stockpiles of nuclear weapons while discouraging non-nuclear nations from obtaining nuclear weapons. India is having problems obtaining some nuclear technology from other nations because of fear that the tech might be repurposed to help develop nuclear weapons.
Part Two of Two Parts (Please read Part One first)
Part One of Two Parts
I have often blogged about the problem of spent nuclear fuel assemblies that are piling up in the cooling pools of U.S. nuclear reactors. There is no permanent geological repository for spent nuclear fuel in the U.S. The attempt to build such a repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada was cancelled in 2009 although there are members of Congress who are trying to get that project going again.
