USING RADIOACTIVITY One of the greatest events of twentieth century was the use of radioisotope as

Disposal of the high level nuclear waste that comes from nuclear power plants continues to be a big problem. It has been challenging and costly to find safe ways to store this waste. According to a report from the U.S National Academy of Sciences, it will take 3 million years for radioactive waste stored in the U.S. as of 1983 to decay to background levels (thinkquest.org). Who wants this amount of waste stored in the environment where they live? Currently in the U.S. nuclear power plants produce 3,000 tons of this high level waste each year (thinkquest.org). If nuclear power continues to be produced, this amount of waste will only continue to increase, causing a bigger dilemma as to what to do with the waste. As the waste is removed from the plant it still contains a high level of radiation. Exposure to radiation whether it occurs in the moving process or leakage from storage not only has a negative impact on the environment but also can pose a major health threat to humans. Based on the level of exposure, symptoms to humans can range from nausea and headaches to damage of nerve cells, loss of white blood cells and even death (think .org). The potential risk of exposure is not worth human life.

There are two major categories of nuclear waste. High-level waste (HLW) and low-level waste (LLW). HLW has high amounts of radioactive materials in a small volume, and it also contains radionuclides with long half-lives .HLW is mainly composed of spent fuel and waste generated by military applications; on the other hand, LLW is generated from mining and excavation activities. [2].

Nuclear Waste The essay “Nuclear Waste” by Ricard A. Muller talks about the controversial matter of the disposure of radioactive waste. Despite the overwhelming concerns of citizens, Richard Muller believes the dangers associated with the transportation and deposit of nuclear waste is not as paramount as the issue may seem. The concepts that seems most alarming to the public are the number of year it takes for the radioactivity of the waste to subside and where it will be stored in the mean time that will not affect their safety. As Muller explains, ”Even after 100,000 years the radiation will still be above 10% of the level it had when it left the reactor.

As mentioned before all processes of nuclear energy making creates a form of waste, each with differing levels. One is Low Level waste and it comprises objects such as paper, rags, tools, and clothing that are made with short living

Metal manufacturers, to obtain the proper thickness of tin and aluminum Highly sensitive gauges to measure the thickness and density of many materials use radioisotopes quality of steel is also checked by guages. Construction crews also use it, to gauge the density of road surfaces and subsurface. Pipeline companies, to look for defects in welds and use as tracers to pinpoint leaks in piping. Several countries have implemented nuclear water desalination, including India, Japan and Kazakhstan. Nuclear-energy-powered water desalination is a well-understood technology, with thousands of man-hours behind it.Science Studies Carbon-14, a naturally occurring, long-lived radioactive substance, allows archaeologists to determine when artifacts containing plant or animal material were alive, created or used.Radioactive carbon dating allows us to observe data of earth.Agriculture aspect of it all is that radiation can Increase shelf life and preserves food, 40 plus Countries have approved of using radiation to help preserve foods, also uses irradiation (exposing object to radiation) it kills bacteria, More than 10 species of insects have been eliminated by radiation insects, and parasites which these could have caused food borne illnesses. NEI states “Food irradiation does not make the food radioactive, and it does not change the food any more than canning or freezing.” also radiation Develops more disease resistant

Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction, it uses fuel made from mined and processed uranium to generate heat and electricity. It is the world’s largest emission free energy source. Nuclear energy also has the lowest impact on the environment than other energy sources. But it can still be very harmful because of the radiation is causes and the radioactive waste it produces. Radioactive wastes are the ruins of nuclear materials that are used in providing nuclear energy. These wastes contain high levels of radiation that can be very hazardous to humans and the environment. Some people accept and support the idea of using nuclear energy and others don’t. In the following paragraphs, some major nuclear accidents and the public acceptance of nuclear energy will be discussed.

Objective Radioactivity is present all throughout the environments on earth, which relates to the unstable atomic nuclei. Going into detail, radioactivity occurs in unstable atomic nuclei and is caused by the spontaneous disintegration of atomic nuclei. Radiation is used in numerous ways that are used in experiments and medical procedures. In this article, radioactivity will be defined, the three types of radioactivity will be explained, and the different methods of radiation will be illustrated. Introduction Nuclei are formed with a higher stability after unstable atomic nuclei spontaneously decompose, and this process is called radioactivity.

Nuclear chemistry deals with radioactivity and nuclear processes. In nuclear reactions particles in the atom’s nucleus changes which results in changes in the atom itself. In addition, nuclear reactions result in the transmutation of one element into a different isotope or changes into a different element because changes in the number of proton results changes in the atom. There are three types of nuclear radiation: alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. Nuclear chemistry was seen and experienced in early August of 1945. During this time World War 2 was brought to a sudden end by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombs used to ultimately destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki were made by using nuclear chemistry. Nuclear radiation killed many people, caused many casualties, and had a long term effect on the people.

Such kind of waste emits radiations from tens to hundreds of years. These reactive radicals make the sand or the water contaminated. It is known as mixed waste. The mixture cause hazardous chemical reactions and leads to dangerous complications.

Doctors around the globe use isotopes for research, diagnosis, and treatment. Radioisotopes have changed everyone’s lives without most of them knowing it. Like David Foster Wallis says, “This is water.” This quote means that this is one of many things that allow the world to function and thrive without the realization that the substance, like radioisotopes, even exists.

A much as nuclear power is a viable source of energy, it has some setbacks. The radioactive waste produced by the reactors need to be disposed off properly since they can be overly hazardous and may leak some radiations if not properly stored. Such forms of waste emits radiations from few to very many years. These emissions are deemed to harm the future generations greatly. The storage of the radioactive waste has been a major hindrance to the expansion programs. Thus, this essay aims at discussing that nuclear energy production is not a viable means of supplying the energy needs.

The time it takes for an element to decay represents how much radiation is being emitted; if an element takes a long time to completely decay it is only emitting low levels of radiation. How much radiation is being emitted determines what management strategies need to be implied in order to manage this amount of radioactive waste from harming humans and the environment. So this scientific paper will look the effects of radioactive waste on the environment, humans and water, then research and imply any potential solutions to make radioactive waste more sustainable for the environment. [1] [2] [3] [11]

Secondly, nearly 150 tons of nuclear waste is produced every year, which, leads to a thorny problem. Nuclear waste is so radioactive that it has to be isolated and confined in appropriate disposal facilities for a sufficient period of time until it is no longer hazardous. However, the period of time ranges from a few days for short-lived isotopes to millions of years for spent nuclear fuel. Today in Taiwan, the low-level wastes are currently stored at Orchid Island and the temporary storages of three nuclear power plants. As for the most dangerous used fuels, they are placed at the underground tank in nuclear power plants. Obviously, except the storage facility in Orchid Island, other methods are not permanent ways at all. On the other hand, the increasing number of protest of calling for the

When a waste cause threat to human health, it is considered as hazardous (RCRA, 1978). According to RCRA of USA all the wastes are solid

in general are highly used for nuclear energy, for both good and bad ways. Good uses of